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No. 1324. 



S3;0 Oe.i3.t0. 




Six TnONTHs 
IN Mexico 



BY 

NELLIE BLY, 

AuTHOft dlf "Tkk Days im A Mad ttouss." 



J" 



EW YORK 

[ Q»N W-ioVELL (QMPANY 




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SIX MONTHS IN } 




By NELLIE BLY. 



CHAPTER I. 

ADIEU TO THE UNITED STATES. 

Oe'E wintry night I bade my few journalistic friends 
adieu, and, accompanied by my mother, started on my 
way to Mexico. Only a few months previous I had be- 
come a newspaper woman. I was too impatient to work 
along at the usual duties assigned women on newspapers, 
so I conceived the idea of going away as a correspond- 
ent. 

Three days after leaving Pittsburgh we awoke one 
morning to find ourselves in the lap of summer. Por a 
moment it seemed a dream. When the porter had made 
up our bunks the evening previous, the surrounding 
country had been covered with a snowy blanket. When 
we awoke the trees were in leaf and the balmy breeze 
mocked our wraps. 

Three days, from dawn until dark, we sat at the end 
of the car inhaling the perfume of the flowers and enjoy- 
ing the glorious Western sights so rich in originality. 
For the first time I saw women plowing while their lords 
and masters sat on a fence smoking. I never longed for 
anything so much as I did to shove those lazy fellows 
off. 

After we got further south they had no fences. I was 
glad of it, because they do not look well ornamented with 
lazy men. 

the land was so beautiful. We gazed in wonder on 
the cotton-fields, ^vhich looked, when moved by the 
breezes, like hug;o, foaming breakers in their mad rush 



6 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

for the shore. And the cowboys! I shall never forget 
the first real, live cowboy I saw on the plains. The train 
was moving at a "putting-in-time '" pace, as we came up 
to two liorsemen. They wore immense sombreros, huge 
spurs, and had lassos hanging to the side of their sad- 
dles. I knew they were cowboys, so, jerking off a red 
scarf I waved it to them. 

I was not quite sure how they would respond. From 
the thi'iljiiig and wicked stories I had read, I fancied f'j 
they might begin shooting at me as quickly as anything 
else. However, I was surprised and delighted to sec 
them lift their sombreros, in a manner not excelled by a 
New York exquisite, and urge tlieil' horses into a mad 
run after us. 

Such a ride! The feet of the horses never seemed to 
touch the ground. By this time nearly all the passen- 
gers were watching the race between horse and steam. 
At last we gradually left them behind. I waved my 
scarf sadly in farewell, and they responded with their 
sombreros. I never felt as much reluctance for leaving 
a man behind as I did to leave those cowboys. 

The people at the different stopping-places looked at 
us with as much enjoyment as we gazed on them. They 
were not in the least backward about asking questions or 
making remarks. One w^oman came up to me with a 
smile, and said: 

*'Good-mornin', missis; and why are you sittin' out 
thar, when thar is such a nice cabin to be in?" 

She could not understand how I could prefer seeing 
the country to sitting in a Pullman. 

I had imagined that the West was a land of beef and 
cream; I soon learned my mistake, much to my dismay. 
It was almost an impossibility to get aught else than salt 
meat, and cream was like the stars — out of reach. 

It was with regret we learned just before retiring on 
the evening of our third day out from St. Louis, that 
morning would find us in El Paso. I cannot say what 
hour it was when the porter called us to dress, that the 
train would soon reach its destination. How I did wish 
I had remained at home, as I rub-bed my eyes and tried 
to dress on my knees in the berth. 

'' It^'s so dark,^^ said my mother, as ^he parted the cur- 
tains. " What shall we do when we arrj^ve?" 

\ 



SIX MONTHS IN .MEXICO. 7 

^^ Well, I'm glad it^s dark, because I won^fc have to but- 
ton my boots or comb my hair/' I replied, laughing to 
cheer her vi-p. 

I did not feel as cheerful as I talked when we left the 
train. It had been our home for three days, and now we 
were cast forth in a strange city in the dark. The train 
employes were running about with their lanterns on 
uheir arms, but no one paid any attention to the drowsy 
passengers. 

There were no cabs or cabmen, or even wheelbarrows 
around, and the darkness prevented us from getting a 
view of our surroundings. 

'' This has taught me a lesson. I shall fall into the 
arms of the first man who mentions marry to me/' I said 
to my mother as we wended our way through freight and 
baggage to the waiting-room, ''then I will have some 
one to look after me.*' 

She looked at me with a little doubting smile, and 
gave my arm a reassuring pressure. 

I shall never forget the sight of that waiting-room. 
Men, women, and children, dogs and baggage, in one 
promiscuous mass. The dim light of an oil-lamp fell with 
dreary effect on the scene. Some were sleeping, lost for 
awhile to all the cares of life; some were eating; some 
were smoking, and a group of men were passing around 
a bottle occasionally as they dealt out a greasy pack of 
cards. 

It was evident that we could not wait the glimpse of * 
dav/n 'mid these surroundings. With my mother's arm 
still tightly clasped in mine, we again sought the outer 
darkness. I saw a man with a lantern on his arm, and 
went to him and asked directions to a hotel. He replied 
that they Avere all closed at this hour, but if I could be 
satisfied with a second-class house, he would conduct us 
to where he lived. We were only too glad for any shel- 
ter, so without one thought of where he might take us, 
we followed the light of his lantern as he went ahead. 

It was only a short walk through the sandy streets to 
the place. There was one room unoccupied, and we 
gladly paid for it, and by the aid of a tallow candle found 
our way to bed. 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



CHAPTER 11. 

EL PASO DEL NORTE. 

^' My dear cliild^ do you feel rested enough?" I heard 
my mother ask. 

'^ Are you up already?" I asked, turning on my side, to 
see her as she sat, dressed, by the open window, through 
which came a lazy, southern breeze. 

'' This hour," she replied, smiling at me; *' you slept 
so well, I did not want to rouse you, but the morning is 
perfect and I want you to share its beauties with me." 

The remembrance of our midnight arrival faded like a 
bad nightmare, and I was soon happy that I was there; 
only at mealtime d id I long for home. 

We learned that the first train we could get for Mexico 
would be about six o^clock in the afternoon, so we de- 
cided '^to do" the town in the meanwhile. 

El Paso, which is Spanish for ''The Pass," is rather 
a lively town. It has been foretold that it will be a second 
Denver, so rapid is its growth. A number of different 
railway lines center here, and the hotels are filled the 
year round with health and pleasure seekers of all descrip- 
tions. While it is always warm, yet its climate is so per- 
fect that it benefits almost any sufferer. The hotels are 
quite modern, both in finish and price, and the hack- 
drivers on a par with those in the East. 

The prices for everything are something dreadful to 
contemplate. The houses are mostly modern, with here 
and there the adobe huts which once marked this border. 
The courthouse and jail combined is a fine brick struct- 
ure that any large city might boast of. Several very pretty 
little gardens brighten up the town with their green, vel- 
vety grasses and tropical plants and trees. The only ob- 
jection I found to El Paso was its utter lack of grass. 

The people of position are mainly those who are there 
for their health, or to enjoy the winter in the balmy cli- 
mate, or the families of men who own ranches in Texas. 
The chief pleasure is driving and riding, and the display 
during the driving hour would put to shame many East- 
ern cities. The citizens are jDerfectly free. They speak 
and do and think as they please. 

Tn our walks around we had mauy proffer us informs- 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 9 

tion, and even ask permission to escort us to points of 
interest. 

A woman offered to show ns a place where we could 
get good food, and when she learned that we were leaving 
that evening for the City of Mexico, she urged us to get 
a basket of food. She said no eating- cars were run on 
that trip, and the eating gotten along the way would be 
worse than Americans could endure. We afterward felt 
thankful that we followed her advice. 

El Paso, the American town, and El Paso del Norte 
(the pass to the north), the Mexican town, are separated, 
as New York from Brooklyn, as Pittsburgh from Alle- 
gheny. The Rio Grande, running swiftly between its 
low banks, its waves muddy and angry, or sometimes so 
low and still that one would think it had fallen asleep 
from too long duty, divides the two towns. 

Communication is open between them by a ferryboat, 
which will carry you across for two and one half cents, by 
hack, buggies, and saddle horses, by the Mexican Central 
Railway, which transports its passengers from one town 
to the other, and a street-car line, the only international 
street-car line in the world, for which it has to thank 
Texas capitalists. 

It is not possible to find a greater contrast than these 
two cities form, side by side. El Paso is a pros:ressive, 
lively, American town; El Paso del Norte is as far -back 
in the Middle Ages, and as slow as it was Avhen the first 
adobe hut was executed in 1680. It is rich with grass 
and shade trees, w^iile El Paso is as spare of grass as a 
twenty- year- old youth is of beard. 

On that side they raise the finest grapes and sell the 
most exquisite wine that ever passed mortals^ lips. On 
this side they raise vegetables and smuggle the wine over. 
The tobacco is pronounced unequaled, and the American 
pockets will carry a good deal every trip, but the Mexi- 
can IS just as smart in paying visits and carrying back 
what can be only gotten at double the price on his side; 
but the Mexican custom-house officials are the least ex- 
acting in the world, and contrast as markedly with the 
United States' oflB.cials as the two towns do one to the 
other. 

One of the special attractions of El Paso del Norte 
(barring the tobacco and wine) is a queer old stone 



10 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

church, which is said to be nearly 300 years old. . It is 
low and dark and filled with peculiar paintings and fun- 
nily dressed images. 

The old town seems to look with proud contempt on 
civilization and progress, and the little i^adre preaches 
against free schools and tells his poor, ignorant followers 
to beware of the hurry and worry of the Americans— to 
live as their grand- and great-grandfathers did. So, in 
obedience they keep on praying and attending mass, 
sleeping, smoking their cigarettes and eating frijoles 
(beans), lazily wondering why Americans cannot learn 
their wise way of enjoying life. 

One can hardly believe that Americanism is separated 
from them only by a stream. If they were thousands of 
miles apart they could not be more unlike. There small- 
pox holds undisputed sway in the dirty streets, and, in 
the name of religion, vaccination is denounced; there 
Mexican convict-soldiers are flogged until the American's 
heart burns to wipe out the whole colony; there fiestes 
and Sundays are celebrated by the most inhuman cock- 
fights and bull-fights, and monte games of all descrip- 
tions. The bull-fights celebrated on the border are the 
most inhuman I have seen in all of Mexico. The horns 
of the t07'OS (bulls) are sawed off so that they are sensitive 
and can make but little attempt at defense, which is at- 
tended with extreme pain. They are tortured until, 
sinking from pain and fatigue, they are dispatched by 
the butcher. 

El Paso del Norte boasts of a real Mexican prison. It 
is a long, one- storied adobe building, situated quite 
handy to the main plaza, and within hearing of the 
merry-makiug of the town. There are no cells, but a 
few adobe rooms and a long court, where the prisoners 
talk together and with the guards, and count the time as 
it laggingly slips away. They very often play cards and 
smoke cigarettes. Around this prison is a line of sol- 
diers. It is utterly impossible to cross it without detec- 
tion. 

Mexican keepers are not at all particular that the 
prisoners are fed everyday. An American, at the hands 
of the Mexican authorities, suffers all the tortures that 
some preachers delight to tell us some human beings 
will find in the world to come. 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



11 



Fire and brimstone! It is nothing to the torments of 
an American prisoner in a Mexican jail. Two meals, 
not enough to sustain life in a sick cat, must sufl&ce him 
for an entire week. There are no beds, and not even 
water. Prisoners also have the not very comfortable 
knowledge that, if they get too troublesome, the keep- 
ers have a nasty habit of making them stand up and be 
shot in the back. The reports made out in these cases 
are '' shot -while trying to escape. ''' 

In the afternoon I exchanged my money for Mexican 
coin, getting a premium of twelve cents on every dollar. 
I had a lunch prepared, and as the shades of night began 
to envelop the town, we boarded the train for Mexico. 
After we crossed the Rio Grande our baggage was ex- 
amined by the custom-house officers while we ate supper 
at a restaurant which, strangely enough, was run by 
Chinamen. This gave us a foretaste of Mexican food 
and price. 

It was totally dark when we entered the car again, and 
we were quite ready to retire. There were but two other 
passengers in the car with us. One was a Mexican and 
the other a young man from Chicago. 

We soon bade them good-night, and retired to our 
berths to sleep while the train bore us swiftly through 
the darkness to our destination. - 



CHAPTER III. 

ALOKG THE EOUTE. 

^' Thiety minutes to dress for breakfast,^-' was our 
good-morning in Mexico. We had fallen asleep the night 
previous as easily as a babe in its crib, with an eager an- 
ticipation of the morrow. Almost before the Pullman 
porter had ceased his calling, our window shades were 
hoisted and we were trying to see all of Mexico at one 
glance. 

That glance brought disappointment. The land, al- 
most as far as the eye could carry, which is a wonderful 
distance in the clear atmosphere of Mexico, was perfectly 
level. Barring the cacti, with which the country abounds, 
the ground was bare. 

"And this is sunny Mexico, the land of the gods!" I 
exclaimed, in disgust. 



x 



13 SIX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. 

By the time we liad completed our toilet the train 
stopped, and we were told to get off if we wanted any 
breakfast. We followed our porter to a side track where, 
in an old freight car, was breakfast. We climbed up the 
high steps, paying our dollar as we entered, and found for 
ourselves places at the long table. It was surrounded by 
hungry people intent only on helping themselves. Every- 
thing was on the table, even to the coffee. 

I made an effort to eat. It was impossible. My mother 
succeeded no better. 

*^' Are you not glad we brought a lunch?" she asked, as 
her eyes met mine. , _\ 

We went back to the car and managed to make a toler- 
able breakfast on the cold chicken and other eatables we 
found in our basket. 

But the weather! It was simply perfect, and we soon 
forgot little annoyances in our enjoyment of it. We got 
camp chairs, and from morning until night we occupied 
the rear platform. 

As we got further South the land grew more interest- 
ing. We gazed in wonder at the groves of cacti which 
raised their heads many feet in the air, and topped them 
off with one of the most exquisite blossoms I have ever 
seen. 

At every station we obtained views of the Mexicans. 
As the train drew in, the natives, of whom the majority 
still retain the fashion of Adam, minus fig leaves, would 
rush up and gaze on the travelers in breathless wonder, 
and continue to look after the train as if it was the one 
event of their lives. 

As we came to larger towns we could see armed horse- 
men riding at a 2:09 speed, leaving a cloud of dust in 
their wake, to the stations. When the train stopped 
they formed in a decorous line before it, and so remained 
until the train started again on its journey. I learned 
that they were a government guard. They do this so, if 
there is any trouble on the train or any raised at the sta- 
tion during their stop, they could quell it. 

Hucksters and beggars constitute most of the crowd 
that welcomes the train. From the former we bought 
flowers, native fruit, eggs, goat milk, and strange Mexi- 
can food. The pear cacti, which is nursed in green- 
houses in the States, grows wild on the plains to a height 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 13 

of twenty feet, and its great green lobes, or leaves, covered 
thickly with thorns, are frequently three feet in diameter. 
Some kinds bear a blood-red fruit, and others j^ellow. 
When gathered they are in a thorny shell. The Mexican 
Indians gather them and peel them and sell them to trav- 
elers for six cents a dozen. It is called ^'tuna,^^ and is 
considered very healthy. It has a very cool and pleasing 
taste. 

From this century-plant, or cacti, the Mexicans make 
their beer, which they call pulque (pronounced polke). 
It is also used by the natives to fence in their mad houses, 
and forms a most picturesque and impassable surround- 
ing. 

The Indians seem cleanly enough, despite all that^s 
been said to the contrary. Along the gutters by the rail- 
road, they could be seen washing their few bits of wear- 
ing apparel, and bathing. Many of their homes are but 
holes in the ground, with a straw roof. The smoke creeps 
out from the doorway all day, and at night the family 
sleep in the ashes. They seldom lie down, but sleep 
sitting up like a tailor, strange to say, but they never 
nod nor fall over. 

The whirlwinds, or sand spouts, form very pretty pict- 
ures on the barren plain. They run to the height of one 
thousand feet, and travel along the road at a 2:04 gait, 
going up the mountain side as majestic as a queen. But 
then their race is run, for the moment they begin to de- 
scend their spell is broken, and they fall to earth again 
to become only common sand, and be trod by the bare, 
brown feet of the Indian, and the dainty hoofs of the 
burro. 

Some one told me that when a man sees a sand spout 
advancing, and he does not want to be cornered by it, he 
shoots into it and it immediately falls. I can't say how 
true it is, but it seems very probable. 

We had not many passengers, but what we had, ex- 
cepting my mother and myself, were all men. They all 
carried lunch-baskets. Among them was one young 
Mexican gentleman who had spent several years in 
Europe, where he had studied the English language. 
He was very attentive to us, and taught me a good deal 
of Spanish. He ,had been away long enough to learn 



14 SIX MONTHS IN 3IEXIC0. 

tliat the Mexicans had very strange ideas, and he quite 
enjoyed telling incidents about them. 

" When the Mexican Kailway was being built," he said, 
" wheelbarrows were imported for the native laborers. 
They had never seen the like before, so they filled them 
with earth, and, putting them on their backs, walked off 
to the place of dei30sit. It was a long time before they 
could be made to understand how to use them, and even 
then, as the Mexicans are very weak in the arms, little 
work could, be accomplished with them. 

'' You would hardly believe it,-*' he continued, '^but at 
first the trains were regarded as the devil and the passen- 
gers as his workers. Once a settlement of natives de- 
cided to overpower the devil. They took one of their 
most sacred and powerful saints and placed it in the cen- 
ter of the track. On their knees, with great faith, they 
watched the advance of the train, feeling sure the saint 
would cause it to sto]) forever in its endless course. The 
engineer, who had not much reverence for that particular 
saint or saints in general, struck it with full force. That 
saint's reign was ended. Since then they are allowed to 
remain in their accustomed nooks in the churches, while 
the natives still have the same faith in their powers, but 
are not anxious to test them." 

^' Come, I want you to see the strangest mountain in 
the world," interrupted the conductor at this moment. 

We followed him to the rear platform and there looked 
curiously at the mountain he pointed out. It rose, clear 
and alone, from the barren plains, like a nose on one's 
face. It seemed to be of brown earth, but it contained 
not the least sign of vegetation. It looked as high as 
the Brooklyn bridge from the water to top, and was 
about the same length, in an oblong shape. It was per- 
fectly straight across the top. 

" When this railroad was being built," he explained, 
'' I went with a party of engineers in search of some- 
thing new. Through curiosity alone, to get a good view 
of the land, we decided to climb that strange looking 
mountain. From here yon cannot see the vegetation, 
but it is covei'ed with a low, brown shrub. Can you im- 
agine our surprise when we got to the top to find it was 
a mammoth basin? Yes, that hill holds in it the most 
beautiful lake I ever saw." 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 15 

'''That seems most wonderful !^^ I exclaimed, rather 
dubiously. 

'* It is not more wonderful than thousands of other 
places in Mexico/' he replied. ^^ In the State of Chihua- 
hua* is a Laguna, in which the water is as clear as crys- 
tal. When the Americans who were superintending the 
work on the railway found it, they decided to have a 
nice bath. It had been many days since they had seen 
any more water than would quench their thirst — in cof- 
fee, of course. Accordingly, some dozen or more doffed 
their clothing and went in. Their pleasure was short- 
lived, for their bodies began to burn and smart, and they 
came out looking like scalding pigs. The water is 
strongly alkaline; the fish in the lake are said to be white, 
even to their eyes; they are unfit to eat.-" 

I give his stories for what they are worth; I did not inves- 
tigate to prove their truth. 

'^ We do not think much of the people who come here 
to write us up," the conductor said one day, ^^for they 
never tell the truth. One woman who came down here 
to make herself famous pressed me one day for a story. 
I told her that out in the country the natives roasted 
whole hogs, heads and all, without cleaning, and so 
served them on the table. She jotted it down as a rare 
item.'' 

^' If you tell strangers untruths about your own land 
can you complain, then, that the same strangers mis- 
represent it?" asked my little mother, quietly. 

The conductor flushed, and said he had not thought of 
it in that light before. 

While yet a day's travel distant from the city of 
Mexico, tomatoes and strawberries were procurable. It 
was January. The venders were quite up to the tricks 
of the hucksters in the States. In a small basket they 
place cabbage leaves and two or three pebbles to give 
weight; then the top is covered with strawberries so 
deftly that even the smartest purchaser thinks he is get- 
ting a bargain for twenty-five cents. 

At larger towns a change for the better was noticeable 

in the clothing of the people. The most fashionable 

dress for the Mexican Indian was white muslin panteloons, 

twice as wide as those worn by the dudes last summer; 

* Pronounced Che-wa-wa. 



16 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

a sera}:)e, as often cotton as wool, wrapped around the 
shoulders; a straw sombrero, and sometimes leather san- 
dals bound to the feet with leather cords. 

The women wear loose sleeveless waists with a straight 
piece of cloth pinned around them for skirts, and the 
habitual rebozo wrapped about the head and holding the 
equally habitual baby. No difference how cold or warm 
the day, nor how scant the lower garments, the serape 
and relozo are never laid aside, and none seem too poor 
to own one. Apparently the natives do not believe much 
in standing, for the moment they stop walking they 
^' hunker " down on the ground. 

Never once during the three days did we think of get- 
ting tired, and it was with a little regret mingled with a 
desire to see more, that we knew when we awoke in the 
morning we would be in the City of Mexico. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 

" The City of Mexico,'' they had called. We got off, 
but we saw no city. We soon ^earned that the train did 
not go further, and that we would have to take a car- 
riage to convey us the rest of the way. 

Carriages lined the entrance to the station, and the 
cab-men were, apparently from their actions, just like 
those of the States. When they procure a permit for a 
carriage in Mexico, it is graded and marked. A first- 
class carriage carries a white flag, a second-class a blue 
flag, and a third-class a red flag. The prices are respect- 
ively, per hour: one dollar, seventy-five cents, and fifty 
cents. This is meant for a protection to travelers, but 
the drivers are very cunning. Often at night they will 
remove the flag and charge double prices, but they can 
be punished for it. 

We soon arrived at the Hotel Yturbide, and were as- 
signed rooms by the affable clerk. The hotel was once 
the home of the Emperor Yturbide. It is a large build- 
ing of the Mexican style. The entrance takes one into a 
large, open court or square. All the rooms are arranged 
around this court, opening out into a circle of balconies. 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 11 

The lowest floor in Mexico is the cheapest. The higher 
up one goes the higher they find the price. The reason 
of this is that at the top one escapes any possible damp- 
ness, and can get the light and sun. 

Our room had a red brick floor. It was large, but had 
no ventilation except the glass doors which opened onto 
the balcony. There was a little iron cot in each corner 
of the room, a table, wash stand, and wardrobe. 

It all looked so miserable—like a prisoner's cell — that 
I began to wish I was at home. 

At dinner we had quite a time trying to understand 

:he waiter and to make him understand us. The food 

ve thought wretched, and, as our lunch basket was long 

ince emptied, we felt a longing for some United States 

eatables. 

I found we could not learn much about Mexican life by 
living at the hotels, so the first thing was to find some 
one who could speak English, and through them obtain 
boarding in a private family. It was rather difiicult, but 
I succeeded, and I was glad to exchange quarters. 

The City of Mexico makes many bright promises for 
the future. As a winter resort, as a summer resort, a 
city for men to accumulate fortunes; a paradise for stu- 
dents, for artists; a rich 'field for the hunter of the curi- 
ous, the beautiful, and tie rare. Its bright future cannot 
be far distant. 

Already its wonders are related to the enterprizing peo- 
ple of other climes, who are making prospective tours 
through the land that held cities even at the time of the 
discovery of America. 

Mexico looks the same all over; every white street ter- 
minates at the foot of a snow-capped mountain, look 
which way you will. The streets are named very strangely 
and prove quite a torment to strangers. Every block or 
square is named separately. 

The most prominent street is the easiest to remember, 
and even it is peculiar. It is called the street of San 
Francisco, and the first block is designated as first San 
Francisco, the second as second San Francisco, and so on 
the entire street. 

One continually sees poverty and wealth side by side in 
Mexico, and they don't turn up their noses at each other 



18 SIX .MONTHS IX MEXICO, 

either; the half -clad Indian has as much room on the 
Fifth Avenue of Mexico as the millionaire's wife— not 
but what that land, as this, bows to wealth. 

Policemen occupy the center of the street at every ter- 
mination of a block, reminding one, as they look down 
the streets, of so many posts. They wear white caps with 
numbers on, blue suits, and nickel buttons. A mace 
now takes the place of the sword of former days. At 
night they don an overcoat and hood, which makes them 
look just like the pictures of veiled knights. Red lan- 
terns are left in the street where the policemen stood 
during the daytime, while they retire to some doorway 
where, it is said, they sleep as soundly as their brethren 
in the States. 

Every hour tliey blow a whistle like those used by 
street car drivers, which is answered by those on the next 
posts. Thus they know all is well. In small towns they 
call out the time of night, ending up with tiempo serono 
(all serene), from which the Mexican youth, with some 
mischievous Yankeeism, have named them Seronos. 



CHAPTER V. 

IN" THE STREETS OF MEXICO. 

Ix Mexico^ as in all other countries, the average tour- 
ist rushes to the cathedrals and places of historic note, 
wholly unmindful of the most intensely interesting 
feature the country contains — the people. 

Street scenes. in the City of Mexico form a brilliant and 
entertaining panorama, for which no charge is made. 
Even photographers slight this wonderful picture. If 
you ask for Mexican scenes they show you cathedrals, 
saints, cities and mountains, but never the wonderful 
things that are right under tlieir eyes dail}-. Likewise, 
journalists describe this cathedral, tell you the age of 
that one, paint you the beauties of another, but the peo- 
ple, the. living, moving masses that go so far toward 
making the population of Mexico, are passed by with 
scarce a mention. 

It is not a clean, inviting crowd, with blue eyes and 



SIX MONTHS IX MEXICO. 



19 



sunny hair I would take you among, but a short, heavy- 
set people, with almost black skins, topped off with the 
blackest eyes and masses of raven hair. Their lives are 
as dark as their skins and hair, and are invaded by no 
hope that through effort their lives may amount to some- 
thing. 

Nine women out of ten in Mexico have babies. When 
at a very tender age, so young as five days, the babies are 
completely hidden in the folds of the rehozo and strung 
to the mother^s back, in close proximity to the mammoth 
baskets of vegetables on her head and supended on either 
side of the human freight. When the babies get older 
their heads and feet appear, and soon they give their 
place to another or share their quarters, as it is no un- 
usual sight to see a woman carry tliree babies at one time 
in her rehozo. Tliey are 
always good. Their little 
coalilack eyes gaze out on 
what is to be their world, 
in solemn wonder. No 
baby smiles or babyish 
tears are ever seen on their 
faces. At the earliest date 
they are old, and appear 
to view life just as it is to 
them in all its blackness. 
They know no home, they 
have no school, and before 
they are able to talk they 
are taught to carry bun- 
dles on their heads or 
backs, or pack a younger 
member of the family 
while the mother 
merchandise, by 
she gains a living, 
living is scarcely 
such a title. They mere- 
ly exist. Thousands of 
them are born and raised 
on the streets. They have no home and were never in a 
bed. Going along the streets of the city late at night, you 
will find dark groups huddled in the shadows, which, on 



carries 
which 
Their 
worth 




30 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



investigation^ will turn out to be wliole families gone 
to bed. They neyer lie down, but sit witli their heads 
on their knees, and so pass the night. 

When they get hungry they seek the warm side of the 
street and there, hunkering down, devour what they 
scraped up during the day, consisting of refused meats 
and offal boiled over a handful of charcoal. A fresh 
tortilla is the sweetest of sweetbreads. The men appear 
very kind and are frequently to be seen with the little 
ones tied up in their serape. 

Groups of these at dinner would furnish rare studies 
for Kodgers. Several men and women will be walking 
along, when suddenly they will sit 
down in some sunny spot on the 
street. The women will bring fish 
or a lot of stuff out of a basket or 
poke, which is to constitute their 
coming meal. Meanwhile the 
men, who also sit flat on the street, 
will be looking on and accepting 
their portion like hungry, but 
well-bred, dogs. 

This type of life, be it under- 
stood, is the lowest in Mexico, 
and connects in no way with the 
upper classes. The Mexicans are 
certainly misrepresented, most 
wrongfully so. They are not lazy, 
but just the opposite. From 
early dawn until late at night they 
can be seen filling their different 
occupations. The women sell 
papers and lottery tickets. 

'' See here, child, ^^ said a gray-haired lottery woman in 
Spanish. ^' Buy a ticket. A sure chance to get $10,000 
for twenty-five cents."^ Being told that we had no faith 
in lotteries, she replied: '^ Buy one; the Blessed Virgin 
will bring you the money." 

The laundry women, who, by the way, wasli clothes 
whiter and iron them smoother even than the Chinese, 
carry the clothes home unwrapped. That is, they carry 
their hands high above their head, from which stream 




SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 21 

white skirts, laces, etc., fiirnishing a most novel and 
interesting sight. 

" The saddest thing I ever saw/^ said Mr. Theo. Geste- 
feld, " among all the sad things in Mexico, was an in- 
cident that happened when I first arrived here. Noticing 
a policeman talking to a boy around whom a crowd of 
dusky citizens had gathered, I, true to journalistic in- 
stinct, went up to investigate. . The boy, I found, be- 
longed to one of the many families who do odd jobs in 
day time for a little food, and sleep at night in some dark 
corner. Strung to the boy^s back was a dying baby. Its 
little eyes were half closed in death. The crotvd watched, 
in breathless fascination, its last slow gasps. The boy 
had no home to go to, he knew not where to find his par- 
ents at that hour of the day, and there he stood, while 
the babe died in its cradle, his serape. In my news- 
paper career I have witnessed many sad scenes, but I 
never saw anything so heartrending as the death of that 
little innocent.-'^ 

Tortillas is not only one of the great Mexican dishes 
but one of the women^s chief industries. In almost any 
street there can be seen women on their knees mashing 
corn between smooth stones, making it into a batter, and 
finally shaping it into round, flat cakes. They spit on 
their hands to keep the dough from sticking, and bake 
in a pan of hot grease, kept boiling by a few lumps of 
charcoal. Eich and poor buy and eat them, apparently 
unmindful of the way they are made. But it is a bread 
that Americans must be educated to. Many surprise the 
Mexicans by refusing even a taste after they see the bak- 
ers. 

There are some really beautiful girls among this low 
class of people. Hair three quarters the length of the 
women, and of wonderful thickness, is common. It is 
often worn loose, but more frequently in two long plaits. 
Wigmakers find no employment here. The men wear 
long, heavy bangs. 

There is but one thing that poor and rich indulge in 
with equal delight and pleasure — that is cigarette smok- 
ing. Those tottering with age down to the creeping babe 
are continually smoking. No spot in Mexico is sacred 
from them; in churches, on the railway cars, on the 



22 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



streets, in the theaters — everywhere are to be seen men 
and women — of the elite — smoking. 

The Mexicans make unsiir^mssed servants. Their 
thievery, which is a historic complaint, mnst be confined 
to those in the suburbs, for those in houses coukl not be 
more honest. Tliere cleanliness is something overwhelm- 
ing, when one recalls the tales that have been told of the 
filth of the ''greasers.'" Early in the mornings the 
streets, walks in the plaza, and pavements are swept as 
clean as anything can be, and that with brooms not as 
good as those children i3lay with in the States. Put an 
American domestic and a Mexican servant together, 
even with the difference in the working implements, and 
the American will ''get left" every time. But this 
cleanliness may be confined somewhat to such work as 
and scrubbing; it does not certainly exist in 
the preparation o f 
food. Pulque, which 
is sucked from the 
mother plant into a 
man's mouth a n d 
thence ejected into a 
water-jar, is brought 
to town in pig-skins. 
The skins are filled, 
and then tied onto 
burros, or sometimes 
— not frequently—car- 
ried in Avagons, the 
filled skin rolling from 
side to side. Never 
less than four filled skins are ever loaded onto a burro; 
oftener eight and ten. The burros are never harnessed, 
but go along in trains which often number fifty. Mexi- 
can politeness extends even among the lowest classes. In 
all their dealings they are as polite as a dancing master. 
The moment one is addressed off comes his poor, old, 
ragged hat, and bare-headed he stands until you leave 
him. They are not only polite to other people, but 
among themselves. One poor, ragged woman was trying 
to sell a broken knife and rusty lock at a pawnbroker's 
stand. " Will you buy?" she asked, plaintively. " No, 
senora, gracias " (I thank you), was the polite reply. 




SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 23 

The police are not to be excelled. When necessary to 
clear a hall of an immense crowd, not a rough word is 
spoken. It is not: '' Get out of this, now;" '' Get out of 
here/' and rough and tumble, push and rush, as it is in 
the States among the civilized people. With raised cap 
and low voice the officer gently says in Spanish: '' Gen- 
tlemen, it is not my will, but it is time to close the door. 
Ladies, allow me the honor to accompany you toward the 
door.'' In a very few moments the hall is empty, with- 
out noise, without trouble, just with a few polite" words, 
among people who cannot read, who wear knives in their 
boots— if they have any — and carry immense revolvers 
strung to their belts; people who have been trained to 
enjoy the sight of blood, to be bloodthirsty. What a 
marked contrast to the educated, cultured inhabitants of 
the States. 

Beneath all this ignorance there is a heart, as sympa- 
thetic, in its way, as that of any educated man. It is no 
unusual sight to see a man walk along with a coffin on 
his head, from which is visible the remains of some child. 
In an instant all the men in the gutters, on the walks, 
or in the doorways, have their hats off, and remain bare- 
headed until the sad procession is far away. The pall- 
bearer, if such he may be called, dodges in and out 
among the carriages, burros and wagons, which fill the 
street. The drivers lift their hats, but the silent bearer 
— generally the father— moves along unmindful of all. 
Funeral cars meet with the same respect. 

In passing along where a new building was being erected, 
attention was attracted to the body of a laborer who had 
fallen from the building. A white cloth covered all of 
the body except his sandled feet. '' The Virgin rest his 
soul;" '^ Virgin Mother grant him grace," were the pray- 
ers of his kind as the policeman commanded his body to 
be carried away. These little scenes prove they are not 
brutes, that they are a little better than some intelligent 
people would have you believe. 

The meat express does not, by any means, serve to 
make the meat more palatable. Generally an old mule 
or horse that has reached its second childhood serves for 
the express. A long, iron rod, from which hooks pro- 
ject, is fastened on the back of the beast by means of 



U SIX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO, 

straps. The meat is hung on these hooks, where it is 
exposed to the mud and dirt of the streets as well as the 
hair of the animal. Men with two large baskets, one in 
front, one behind, filled with the refuse of meat, follow 
near by. If they wear trousers they have them rolled up 
high so the blood from the dripping meat will not soil 
them, but run down their bare legs and be absorbed in 
the sand. It is asserted that the poor do not allow this 
mixture in the basket to go to waste, but are as glad to • 
get it as we are to get sirloin steak. 

Men with cages of fowls, baskets of eggs and bushels 
of roots and charcoal, come from the mountain in droves 
of from twenty-five to fifty, carrying packs which aver- 
age three hundred pounds. 

One form of politeness here is, that when compliment- 
ing or observing anything that belongs to a native, they 
will reply: '' It is yours.'^ That it means nothing but 
politeness some are slow to learn. '^My house is yours; 
you have but to command me," said the hotel-keeper on 
the day of our arrival; but he made no move to vacate. 
A '^ greeny " from the States who was working for the 
Mexican Central tested some beer that was on its way to 
the city. ^^ That is good beer," he remarked to the ex- 
press man. '' Si, senor! It is yours," was the reply. 
Mr. Green was elated, and trudged off home with the 
keg, much to the consternation and distress of the poor 
express man, who Avas compelled to pay out of his own 
purse for his politeness. 

^^ You have very handsome coJBBns," was remarked to a 
man who, probably judging from our looks since we had 
struck Mexican diet, thought he had found a customer, 
and had insisted on showing every cofiin in the house, 
even to the handles, plates, and linings. '^ Si, senorita, 
they are yours." Thinking they would be an unwelcome 
elephant on our hands we replied with thanks, and made 
our exit as quickly as possible. A young Spanish gentle- 
man who, doubtless, was employed by the express com- 
pany, said, after a few moments^ conversation, ^''The ex- 
press company and myself are yours, senorita." We 
confess to the stupidity of not accepting the bonanza, 
with him included. 

A peep into doorways shows the people at all manner 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



25 




of occupations. Men always use tlie machines. Women 

and men put chairs together and weaye bottoms in them. 

They also make shoes, the finest and most artistic shoe in 

the world, and the 

cobblers can make a /^^"^^X*^ 

good shoe out of one /^ ^f" ffeSv\ V l_ 

that is so badly worn 

as to be useless to our 

grandmothers as a 

rod of correction. 

The water - carrier, 

aguador, is one of the 

most common objects 

on the street. They 

suspend water -jars from their heads, one in front, one 

back. Around their bodies are leather aprons to protect 

them from the water, which they get at big fountains and 
basins distributed throughout the city. 

As a people they do not seem malicious, quarrelsome, 
unkind or evil-disposed. Drunkenness does not seem to 
be frequent, and the men, in their uncouth way, are more 
thoughtful of the women than many who belong to a 
higher class. The women, like othe]' women, sometimes 
cry, doubtless for very good cause, and then the men stop 
to console them, patting them on the head, smoothing 
back their hair, gently wrapping them tighter in their 
rebozo. Late one night, when the weather was so cold, 
a young fellow sat on the curbstone and kept his arm 
around a pretty young girl. He had taken off his ragged 
serape and folded it around her shoulders, and as the 
tears ran down her face and she complained of the cold, 
he tried to comfort her, and that mthout a complaint of 
his own condition, being clad only in muslin trowsers 
and waist, which hung in shreds from his body. 

Thus we leave the largest part of the population of 
Mexico. Their condition is most touching. Homeless, 
poor, uncared for, untaught, they live and they die. 
They are worse off by thousands of times than were the 
slaves of the United States. Their lives are hopeless, and 
they know it. That they are capable of learning is 
proven by their work, and by their intelligence in other 
matters. They have a desire to gain book knowledge, or 
at least so says a servant who was taken from the streets, 



26 SIX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. 

who now spends every nickel and every leisure moment 
in trying to learn wisdom from books. 



OHAPTEK YI. 

HOW SUISi'DAT IS CELEBRATED. 

'•' A right good land to live in 
And a pleasant land to see." 

Every day is Sunday, yet no day is Sunday, and Sunday 
is less Sunday than any other day in the week. Still, the 
Mexican way of spending Sunday is of interest to people 
of other climes and habits. 

With the dawn of day people are to be seen wending 
their willing footsteps toward their church. The bells 
chime with their musical clang historic to Mexico, and 
men and women cross the threshold of churches older 
than the United States. Pews are unknown, and on the 
bare floor the millionaire is seen beside the poverty- 
stricken Indian; the superbly clad lady side by side with 
an uncombed, half naked Mexican woman. No distinc- 
tion, no difference. There they kneel and offer their 
prayers of penitence and thanks, unmindful of rank or 
condition. No turning of heads to look at strange or 
gaze on new garments; no dividing tlie poor from the 
rich, but all with uniform thought and purpose go down 
on their knees to their God. 

How a missionary, after one sight like this, can wish 
to convert them into a faith where dress and money bring 
attention and front pews, and where the dirty beggar is 
ousted by the janitor and indignantly scorned down by 
those in affluence, is incomprehensible. 

No Mexican lady thinks it proper to wear a hat into 
church. She thinks it shows disgust; hence the fashion 
of wearing lace mantillas. In this city of rights there is 
nothing handsomer than a lady neatly clad in black with 
a mantilla gracefully wrapped around her head, under 
which are visible coal-black hair, sparkling eyes, and 
beautiful teeth. 

A ragged skirt, and relozo encircling a babe with its 
head on its mother^s shoulder, fast asleep; black, silky 



\ SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. , 'Zl 

hair which trails on the floor as she kneels, her wan, 
brown, pathetic face raised suppliantly in devotion, is one 
of the prettiest, though most common, sights in Mexico 
on Sunday morning. 

This is the busiest day in the markets. Everything is 
booming, and the people, even on their way to and from 
church, walk in and out around the thousands of stalls, 
buying their marketing for dinner. Hucksters cry out 
their wares, and all goes as merry as a birthday party. 
Indians, from the mountains, are there in swarms with 
their marketing. The majority of stores are open, and 
the "second-hand" stalls on the cheap corner do the 
biggest business of the week. 

Those who do not attend church find Mexico delight- 
ful on Sunday. In the alameda (park) three military 
bands, stationed in different quarters, play alternately 
all forenoon. The poor have a passion for music, 
and they crowd the park. After one band has finished, 
they rush to the stand of the next, where they stay until 
it has finished, and then move to the next. Thus all 
morning they go around in a circle. The music, of which 
the Mexican band was a sample, is superb; even the birds 
are charmed. Sitting on the mammoth trees, which 
grace the alameda, they add their little songs. All this, 
mingled with the many chimes which ring every fifteen 
minutes, make the scene one that is never forgotten. The 
rich people promenade around and enjoy themselves 
similar to the poor. 

In the Zocalo, a plazo at the head of the main street 
and facing the palace and cathedral, the band plays in 
the evening; also on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Maximilian planned and had made a drive which led to 
his castle at Chapultepec. It is 3750 feet long, wide 
enough to drive four, or even six teams abreast. It is 
planted on the east side with two rows of trees; one edg- 
ing the drive, the other the walk, which is as wide as 
many streets. The trees are now of immense size, ren- 
dering this drive one of the handsomest, as well as most 
pleasant, in Mexico. Maximilian called it the Boule- 
varde Emperiale; but when liberty was proclaimed the 
name was changed to the Boulevarde of the Reform. On 
the same drive are handsome, nay more, magnificent 



28 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

statues of Columbus, Quatemoc, and an equestrian statue 
of Charles IV. of wonderful size, which, has also been 
pronounced perfect by good judges. A statue of Cortez 
is being erected. This pa^eo is. the fashionable prome- 
nade and drive from five to seven p. M. every day, and 
specially on Sunday afternoon. The music stands are 
occupied, and no vacant benches are to be found. 

Those who call the Mexicans '^ greasers," and think 
them a dumb, ignorant class, should see the paseo on 
Sunday: tally-ho coaches, elegant dog-carts, English gigs, 
handsome coupes and carriages, drawn by the finest studs, 
are a common sight. Pittsburg, on this line, is nowhere 
in comparison. Cream horses, with silver manes and 
tails, like those so valued in other cities, are a common 
kind here. The most fashionable horse has mane and 
tail ^^ bobbed." It might be added this style prevails to 
a great, very great extent among all animals. Cats and 
dogs appear minus ears and tails. Pets of every kind are 
much in demand. Ladies carry lap dogs, and gentlemen 
have chained to them blooded dogs of mammoth size. 
The poor Mexican will have his tame birds; even roosters 
are stylish pets. '' Mary had a little lamb " is respected 
too much here to be called ^^ chestnut.'^ The favorite 
pets of children are fleecy lambs, which, with bells and 
ribbons about their necks, accompany the children on 
their daily airing. 

Mexico, while in the land of churches, would be 
rightly called the city of high heels, hats, powder and 
canes. Every gentleman wears a silk hat and swings a 
'^ nobby ''^ cane. There are but two styles of hats — the 
tile hat and the sombrero. Every woman powders — lays 
it on in chunks — and wears the high heels known as the 
French opera heel. The style extends even to the men. 
One of the easiest ways to distinguish foreigners from 
natives is to look at their feet. The native has a neat 
shoe, with heels from two inches up, while the foreigner 
has a broad shoe and low heel. These people certainly 
possess the smallest hands and feet of any nation in the 
world. Ladies wear fancy shoes entirely — beaded, 
bronzed, colored leather, etc. A common, black leather 
shoe, such as worn by women in the States, is an un- 
salable article. Yet it is nothing strange to see a lady, 
clad in silk or velvet, lift her dress to cross a street or 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



'^9 



enter a carriage, and display a satin shoe of exquisite 
make and above it the hosiery of Eve. In fact, very 
few women ever wear stockings at all. 

This city is a second Paris 
in the matter of dress among 
the elite. The styles and 
materials are badly Parisian, 
and Americans who come 
here expecting to see poorly- 
dressed people are disappoint- 
ed. Like people in the sister I 
Kepublic, the Mexicans judge 
persons by their dress. It is ! 
the dress first and the man 
after. 

On Sundays the streets and 
parks are thronged with men 
and *women selling ice cream, 
pulque, candies, cakes, and 
other dainties. They carry 
their stock on their heads 
while moving, and when they 
stop they set it on a tripod, 
which they carry in their 
arms. 

The flower sellers are always 
women, some of whom look 
quite picturesque in their gay- 
colored costumes. All the' 
flowers are elegant, and are 
arranged in bouquets to suit 
either ladies or gentlemen. 

Bull fights take no little part in the Sunday list of 
amusements, where the poor and ricii mingle freely. 
Theaters have matinees and evening performances, and 
everything takes on a holiday look, and everybody ap- 
pears happy and good-humored. This is nothing new 
in Mexico, however, for the most unusual sight is a fight 
or quarrel. These are left to the numerous dogs which 
belong to the city, and even they do little of it. 

Riding horseback is a favorite pastime. Ladies only 
ride in the forenoon, as custom prevents them from in- 
dulging in the saddle after one o^clock. Gentlemen, 




80 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

however, ride mornings and evenings. Among them are 
to be found the most graceful and daring riders in the 
world. Their outfits are gorgeous; true Mexican, saddle 
trimmed with gold and silver, graceful flaps of the finest 
fur on bridles finished with numberless silver chains. 
The riders are superb in yellow goatskin suits, ornamented 
with silver horse shoes, whips, spurs, etc., with silver 
braid on the short coat. A handsome sombrero, finished 
in silver, with silver monogram of the owner, revolvers, 
and proud, fiery, high-stepping horse completed the pict- 
ure. The ladies' habits are similar to those now in the 
States, except the fine sombrero which replaces the ugly, 
ungraceful high silk hats. 

AH day Sunday is like a pleasant Fourth of July, but 
after eight o'clock the carriages become scarcer and 
scarcer, the people go to the theaters and to their homes, 
the poor seek a soft flagstone, where they repose for the 
night, and by nine o'clock the streets make one thin4v of 
a deserted city. 

Mexicans do not go half way in the matter of style. 
At one o'clock Sunday afternoons policemen in fancy 
uniforms, mounted on handsome horses, equipped with 
guns and lassoes, ride down the Boulevard. They are 
stationed in the center of the drive one hundred yards 
apart, every alternate horse's head in the same direction. 
There they remain, like statues, the entire afternoon. 
Sunday is a favorite day for funerals and change of resi- 
dence. Men with wardrobes, pianos, etc., on their 
backs are seen trotting up and down the streets like our 
moving wagons on the first day of April. They mean 
well by work on Sunday, but it would appear awful to 
some of our good people at home. There is this advan- 
tage, at least: they have something better to do than to 
congregate in back-door saloons or loaf on the streets. 



OHAPTEE VII. 

A HORSEBACK RIDE OVER HISTORIC GROUNDS. 

A Sunday in Mexico is one long feast of champagne, 
without a headache the next day. When the first streaks 
of dawn appear in the east people bob out from this street 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 81 

and that, hostlers hurry horses off to private residences, 
gay riders whirl by as if eager to catch the shades of night 
as they are "sinking in the west, and by 6:30 it looks as if 
all Mexico was on horseback. Ladies wear beautiful cos- 
tumes, dark habits, short skirts, silver and gold buttons, 
and broad sombreros. Men display greater variety of 
costumes; some wear yellow buckskin suits trimmed with 
gold or silver, others have a drab skin suit artistically 
trimmed, still others wear light cloth suits and high 
boots, buttoned at the side, and reaching the knee. A 
belt holding a revolver, and a Mexican saddle to which is 
fastened a sword complete this beautiful riding suit. And 
then what riders! It is the poetry of motion; they are as 
but part of the perfect horse they ride. Take the beau- 
tiful horses, artistic outfit, grand eyes glancing at you 
from beneath a pretty sombrero, and you have a Mexican 
scene which is irresistible. Even Americans are a thou- 
sand times handsomer when they don this outfit, and it 
is safe to wager that if the men in the States would adopt 
the Mexican riding-suit, there would not be a single man 
left after a two months' trial. 

After searching the whole city over we at last found a 
woman we knew, who owned a habit. ^' Certainly you 
may have it, with great pleasure,^' and we thought what 
an angel she was until the time we needed it, when she 
sent a reply: '^My riding-dress is, as I told you, at your 
service any day in the week but Sunday. I am surprised 
that you find need of it on that blessed day.'' That 
evening on going to a house for dinner we found her 
there, dressed to the height of fashion, discussing the 
people who had attended church in the morning and tell- 
ing what a lovely drive she had on the paseo in the after- 
noon. She is a missionary. 

However, as the sun was creeping up trying to catch 
night unawares, I mounted a horse, clad in a unique 
and original costume, to say the very least, which the 
gallant young men, however, pronounced odd and pretty, 
and wanted to know if it was the style of tiie States. 
The boulevard of the Eeform looked as cool and sweet as 
a May morning in the country, and finer than a circus 
paracle with the hundreds of horsemen going either way. 
'^ Vamos f (Let us go). '' Con muclio gusto " (with much 
pleasure), was our reply, and away flew our willing 



82 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

steeds, bearing ns soon to the paradise of Mexico — Cba- 
pultepec. 

Greeting the guards at the gate, we entered, riding 
under trees which sheltered Montezuma and his people, 
Cortes and his soldiers, poor Maximilian and Oharlotta, 
where Mexican cadets laid down their lives in defense of 
their country, where the last battle was fought with the 
Americans, and where now is being prepared the future 
home of President Diaz. Around the castle and through 
the grounds we at last emerged at the opposite side. 
Here a scene worthy of an artist's brush was found. In 
a small adobe house, faced in front by a porch, were half- 
clad Mexicans dealing out coffee and pulque to the horse- 
men who surrounded the place. One had even ridden 
into the house. Awaiting our turn we viewed the scene. 
On our left were mounte 1 and unmounted uniformed sol- 
diers guarding one of the gates to Chapultepec. At our 
back were trains of loaded burros, about 200, on their 
way to market in the city. They stood around and about 
the old aqueduct, the picture of patience. Some few 
had lain down with their burdens and had to be assisted 
to their feet by their masters. Numerous little charcoal 
fires, above which were suspended pans and kettles, were 
being fanned by enterprising peons, who had started this 
restaurant to make a few pennies from their fellowmen. 
One fellow cut all kinds of meat, on a flat stone, into 
little pieces, which he deposited together in a kettle of 
boiling water, and picking them out again with a long 
stick sold them, half-cooked, to the waiting people. 
Some women v>^ere busily knitting, weaving baskets, etc., 
as they vraited for this dainty repast. At last our turn 
came, and we turned our back on the outdoor restaurants 
while we endeavored to swallow a little bit of the miser- 
able stuS they called coffee. As we started we saw the 
people adjust the burdens to their backs, take up- their 
long walking-poles, and start their burros toward the 
city. They had feasted and were now ready to continue 
their journey. 

Leaping a ditch we left the highway and traveled 
through the fields, stopping to gather a few pepper ber- 
ries with which to decorate ourselves, admiring the many- 
colored birds flitting from tree to tree. Another ditch, 
which the horses cleared beautifully, was left behind. 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 33 

and we were once again on a highway, with dust about a 
foot deep, which made horses cough as well as their rid- 
ers. ^'This is bad/^ one of the gentlemen managed to 
say at last. We were only able to give a sympathetic 
grunt and then had to gasp fifteen minutes before we 
could regain our breath. '^ There is a hacienda near 
where we will get a drink and change roads. ' Vamos.''' 
Off we went, leaving the dust behind, and were soon in 
the shaded drive leading to the hacienda. 

Here, at Huischal, we soon forgot the scorching sun 
and blinding dust and gave ourselves up to the pleasure 
of the moment, watching the ever picturesque people 
gathered in groups beneath the shade. Under the trees 
were droves of horses, which were taken two by two, and 
led into a large walled pond. .^^ peon walked on the wall, 
holding the bridle of the tethered horses, who swam 
from one end to the other, covered all but the head. 
After the bath the horses were rubbed well until they 
glistened like satin. 

Climbing the hill we passed all kinds of Indians and 
huts. There were homes built entirely of the maguey 
plant, where straw mats served for beds. The people 
were all awake and engaged in various occupations; 
some women were washing, some Avere making their 
toilet — combing their hair with the same kind of brush 
they scrub with, and washing their bodies with a porous 
soapstone common to the country. Very few of the 
children had any clothing at all, but happiness reigned 
supreme. We passed several plain wooden crosses with 
inscriptions on them, asking travelers to pray for the de- 
ceased's soul. It brought forcibly to mind Byron's 
^^OhildeHaroldi'' 

Quite on the top of the hill, and facing Ohapultepec, 
gleams a marble monument erected in honor of the 
Mexicans killed while defending Oasa de Mata (the 
house of the dead) and El Molino del Key (the mill of 
the king). The Americans discovered, while encamped 
near here, that cannon, etc., were being manufactured at 
El Molino, so they decided to storm the place; they 
found the work more difficult than they expected. The 
Mexicans were fighting for a country they loved, and for 
which they had been compelled to fight for generations. 
Their walls were strongs but at last they gave way before 



34 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

the heavy artillery of the Americans, and their dead 
covered the battlefield. Casa de Mata is now a garrison, 
and the soldiers march back and forth with sad faces. 
El Molino del Rey now furnishes flour for the city. It 
shows no trace of the assault. JSTear by is a foundry for 
the manufacture of guns and munitions. 

The city of the dead, Dolores, lies to the back of the 
mill. Euneral cars and draped street cars were just re- 
turning from the cemetery, and as the people are not 
allowed to ride or drive along thiscarway, we crossed into 
a plantation of pulque plant. It is a resentful thing, 
and a whole army in itself. It ran its sharp prongs into 
the legs of the men, endeavored to pull the skirts off the 
women, and pla3^ed spurs on the horses; but we finally 
emerged at the entrance of the cemetery, alive, but wiser 
from our experience. 

Mexican cemeteries have a certain peculiar beauty, and 
yet they are ugly. No one is allowed to ride or drive 
through; coffins are carried in and everybody is compelled 
to walk. Beautiful trees are cultivated, even the apple 
and the peach being reared for ornament. The walks 
are laid out nicely. Spruce trees are trained to form an 
arbor for long distances. Where they are divided or meet 
another walk, flowing fountains with large basins and 
statues grace the spot. One statue, which looked rather 
singular, was apjDarently carved out of wood. It repre- 
sented a man with flowing locks and beard, clad in a long 
gown and holding in one hand a round ball. Time had 
its hand on heavily, and the wood was seamed and 
browned. Altogether it was a disreputable-looking thing. 
The keeper said it represented Christ with the world in 
his hand. Not a sprig of grass is permitted to grow in 
any of the graveyards, and they are swept as clean as our 
grandmother^s backyard used to be. 

Men were busy digging graves, and new ones were com- 
pletely hidden by fresh flowers, and the flowers on others 
were withered and dead, as if the one so lately buried 
was already forgotten. The monuments are quite fine. 
Some have little altars on which candles are lighted on 
certain days. The prevailing style of marble shaft is 
coffin shaped. Some graves have miniature summer- 
houses built over them, the framework covered with Span- 
ish moss. The ejEfect is beautiful. The poor have only 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 85 

black and white wooden crosses to mark their ashes. One 
family had built a cave, formed of volcanic stone, oyer 
the grave, the effect being quite pretty and unique. 

After partaking of refreshments at a long, low build- 
ing, just outside the cemetery gate, we rode across the 
country and into Tacubaya, an ancient city once the 
homo of Montezuma^s favorite chief, where the American 
soldiers were encamped, now the home of Mexican mill- 
ionaires, the site of the feast of the gamblers, and the 
prettiest village in Mexico. The gambling feast has 
ended and the town has been restored to its usual quiet- 
ness. In the center plaza a band was holding forth, as 
is the custom in. every Mexican village on Sunday morn- 
ings. People had gathered in sun and shade listening. 
The markets were in full blast; the thousands of luscious 
fruits looking fresh and inviting as they were spread on 
the ground awaiting bu3^ers. The native ware was so 
peculiar and the ^'merchant" — half-dressed, brown and 
pleasant — was more than we could resist, so buying two 
small cream jugs, made after the style in vogue fifty 
years ago, we paid him two reales (fifty cents) and de- 
parted, leaving him happy. p >^ 

Once again the willing horses climbed the hill, and 
reaching the summit we inspected the waterworks which 
have so faithfully supplied the city for years. A weather- 
beaten frame house hid the well or spring that has given 
such a generous supply. A wooden wheel as large as the 
house itself, moved slowly, as if age and rheumatism had 
stiffened its joints. The water flowed gently through an 
open trench into another building, whence it rushed, 
white, foaming and sparkling, into the ground, leaving 
only high brick air-pipes to mark its course to the aque- 
duct. 

By the side of the trench a woman was doing her wash- 
ing, and two little lads, with poles across their shoulders 
and buckets suspended from either end, were carrying 
water to the houses down in the valley. An old cow with 
curly horns gazed at us in astonishment as we invaded her 
private meadow to get a view of a paper mill, which is 
built in the shape of an old English castle, down in a deep 
ravine in a nest of lovely green trees. The old cow had 
evidently come to the conclusion, after deliberate reason- 
ing, that we were intruding, and she charged our horses 



36 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

in a first-class *'toro" style. There were no capeadores 
to attract her attention, no lourladeras for us to hide be- 
hind, so we thought it best to fly, which we did with a 
Maud S speed. I did not mention I had lost my hat in 
the retreat until we were over the trench, and one of the 
young men gallantly started to recover it, against the 
protestations of the entire crowd. We expected to see 
him killed, but the cow stood watching him as he dis- 
mounted for the feminine headgear, gesticulating with 
head and tail and beating the earth with her fore legs. 
Eemounting, he saluted her, then putting spurs to his 
horse he cleared the ditch, leaving the baffled and angry 
cow on the other side. 

La Oastaneda, the great pleasure-garden of the Mexi- 
cans, was next visited. Beautiful flowers, shrubbery and 
marble statues grace the well-kept resort. Neat little 
benches, cunning little vine- draped nooks, sprinkling- 
fountains, secluded dancing-stands, deep bathing-basins, 
are a few of the many attractions. Shaded walks and 
twisting stairways would always bring us to some new 
beauty. Music and dancing are always held here every 
afternoon, and although it was nearly noon they had not 
even, so much as a cracker in the house. In Mexico 
nothing in the line of edibles is kept in the house 
overnight. 

At Mixcoac we visited the famous flower gardens, and 
viewed the site where the American soldiers were gar- 
risoned during the war.- The Mexicans have found a 
new thing — a pun, and they are enjoying it heartily. It 
IS not very brilliant or very funny, but it is traveling over 
the city, and every person has to repeat it to you. An 
American wanted to see Mixcoac — p)ronounced ''^ Mis- 
quack. ^^ The conductor failed to let him out at the 
place, and turning to the Mexicans he said: '^We have 
mis-t-quack.^' But it was funnier still to an American 
who was being showed around by a Mexican who sj^oke 
very little English. '^ I will take you to see Mis-quack,^^ 
said the Mexican. The American expressed his pleasure 
and willingness. '' This is all Mis-quack/^ said the Mex- 
ican, pointing around the entire town. ^' Indeed," ejac- 
ulated the astonished tourist; ^^ Miss Quack must be very 
wealthy." 

Down the dusty road we came, passing natives shoot- 



SIX MONTHS IN II^XICO. 87 

ing the pretty birds just for the fun of the thing. All 
other riders had disappeared, and people looked at ns 
from beneath' the shade in amazement, and even we felt 
a little tired and heated after a thirty-mile ride. We 
reached home at one o^clock. Since then I have been 
wearing blisters on my cheeks and nose, and making 
frequent applications with the powder rag of the literary 
widow and old -maid artist who room across the way. 



^CHAPTER VIII. 

A MEXICAl^ BULL -FIGHT. 

Mexicans are always mauana until it comes to bull- 
fights and love affairs. To know a Mexican in daily life 
is to witness his courtesy, his politeness, gentleness; and 
then see him at a bull-fight, and he is hardly recogniza- 
ble. He is literally transformed. His gentleness and 
" mauana ^^ have disappeared; his eyes flash, his cheeks 
flush — in fact, he is the picture of ^^ diabolic animation.''' 
It is all ^' hoy " to-day with him. Even the Spanish lady 
of ease and high heels forgets her mannerisms and ap- 
pears like some painted heathen jubilant over the roast- 
ing of a zealous missionary. 

There have been some very good bull -fights lately in 
the suburbs, for fighting is prohibited within a certain 
distance of the city. When they say a good bull-fight, it 
means that the bulls have been ferocious and many horses 
and men have been killed. 

It is safe to say that the majority of Americans who 
visit Mexico do like the natives, even on the first Sunday; 
attend divine service in the morning, a bull-fight in the 
afternoon and theater in the evening. But it is with 
regret that I say that many Americans who are residents 
of the city now are as passionntely fond of the national 
inhuman sport as a native who has been reared up to it. 
Some never miss a fight, and their American voxce out- 
strips the Mexican in the shouts of " bravo '' at the bloody 
thrusts. Yet there are tourists who cannot outsit one 
performance, and have no desire to attend a second. 
While we Americans cry '^brutal" against the national 
amusement, they in return cry" brutal '^ to our prize- 



38 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 




fights, in wliicli they see nothing to admire, and a dog-fight 
is beneath their contempt. 

'^ Your humane societies would prevent bull- fights in 
the States/' said a Spanish gentleman; " your people 
would cry out against them. Yet they have strong men 
trying to pound one another to death, and the people 
clamor for admission to see the law kill men and women, 

while in health and 
youth, because of 
some deed done in 
the flesh. Yes, they 
witness and allow 
such inhuman treat- 
ment to a fellow mor- 
tal and turn around 
and affect holy hor- 
ror at us for taking 
out of the world a 
few old horses and furnishing beef for the poor.'' 

Read of glorious bull-fights and then witness one, and 
the scene is entirely changed. The day of their glory 
has departed. When Maximilian graced the country 
with his presence the fights were indeed fitted for royal 
sight. The costumes were of the costliest material; the 
horses were of the best blood and breed, and the bulls 
regular roaring Texans, which needed no second sight of 
a red capa to raise their feverish ire. No fight cost less 
than 15,000. 

Now all is different. Maximilian lies in a grave to 
which a treacherous bullet consigned him; Carlotta, still 
what that bullet made her, a raving lunatic and a widow. 
Men of low degree are permitted to grace the fights, 
which are but miserable shadows, a farce of the former 
royal days. 

The National— a narrow gauge — and the Mexican Cen- 
tral, run special trains consisting of twenty and twenty- 
five cars, first, second, and third-class, to the fights every 
half hour. Tickets are sold during the week, which in- 
clude railroad fare, admission to grounds and seat. Long 
before the time for leaving, carriages pull up to the sta- 
tions and blooming senoras, fair senoritas, handsome 
senors and delicate, lovely children, dressed in the height 
of wealth and fashion, enter the railway coach and pro- 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 39 

ceed to make tliemselves comfortable for the half -hour or 
hour's ride which is to bring them to their destination. 
Bands march' np and ure disposed of in the coaches, and 
last comes a troop of soldiers, clad in buckskin suits, 
elaborately trimmed with silver ornaments, yard wide 
sombreros, and armed with gun, revolver, sword, dagger, 
mace, and lasso, which they have no hesitation in using 
in quite a characteristic manner, asking no questions, 
expecting no information, performing their duties fa- 
tally. 

They are the ^^ daisies ^^ of Mexico, and in appreciation 
of which they are sent to grace every bull fight! They 
are the best paid soldiers in the republic, receiving |i 
a day, while the highest salary paid to any of the others 
is twenty-five cents daily, out of which they provide their 
own wearing apparel and food. The same ^'daisies" 
were all outlaws, bandits, fierce and uncontrollable. 
Their many deeds, always done in the name of the law, 
are fearful to relate, so the present president thought it 
policy to engage their services. They ride handsome 
horses, furnished by the government, and are said to be 
the most faithful, reliable men in the employ of the re- 
public. Their only fault is killing without asking ques- 
tions, for which they go scot-free without even so much 
as a rebuke. The ^'daisies" have some of the finest 
specimens of manhood in Mexico, and number in their 
list some handsome, open-faced, youthful boys. They can 
maintain order among 6,000 people filled with pulque 
without uttering one word. Their presence is sufficient. 

On speeds the train. Above the din arises the musical 
sound of a strange language. A view from the window 
exhibits some of Mexico^s most beautiful scenery. Now 
we pass beautiful farms, magnificent artificial lakes cov- 
ered with wild duck, which would delight the heart of 
our American hunters, as they arise in dark clouds on the 
approach of the train, and move off to a more secluded 
spot; beautiful fields of grain, and acres and acres of 
pulque plant, quaint huts, picturesque, historic churches, 
ancient monastries and convents, now used for other pur- 
poses, all surrounded by snow-capped mountains. For 
miles we keep our eyes on the strangest and grandest 
mountain in Mexico, the White Lady, or the Sleeping 
Virgin, It deserves chapters of description and praise^ 



40 SIX MONTHS IN 3IEXIC0. 

but feeling our inability to do it justice we shall confine 
ourselves to a brief remark. 

Outlined against a blue sky, only such skies as are 
habitual to Italy and Mexico, is a snow-topped mountain 
in form of a woman lying on a straight coi; on the head 
is a snow band, such as worn by Sisters of Mercy. The 
arms are folded peacefully on the breast, and the sdow 
garments fall in graceful folds over the feet. There she 
lies and has lain for centuries in perfect outline and 
peaceful repose. Even as we look the clouds play fan- 
tastically about the beauteous form. 'Now they cover her 
body like a dark shroud. Again they drape her cot like 
a pall, then rise in a threatening attitude above her fair 
head, but undisturbed she lies there with hands ever 
folded above the quiet heart, proudly indifferent to storm 
or shine, clad in her pure snowy garments, truly the most 
beauteous sight in Mexico. With a sigh we at last leave 
her behind and are rudely brought to earth by the an- 
nouncement that we have reached our destination. 

The bull ring resembles somewhat a race course; the 
highest row is covered and called boxes. They are 
divided into small squares, which are meant to hold six 
but are crowded with four. Miserable chairs without 
backs are the comfortable seats. Below is the amphi- 
theater, arranged exactly like circus seats. Different 
prices are charged and the cheapest is the sunny side, 
where all the poor sit. A fence painted in the national 
colors — red, green and white — of some six feet in height, 
incloses the ring. Three band-stands, equal distances 
apart, are filled with brilliantly uniformed musicians. 

The judge is appointed by the municipality, but the 
fighters have a right to refuse to fight under one judge 
whom they think will compel them to take unnecessary 
risks with a treacherous bull, for a judge once ehosen his 
commands are law, and no excuse will be accepted for 
not obeying, but a fine deducted from the fighter's salary, 
and he loses cast with the audience. The judge is in a 
box in the center of the shady side; with him is some 
.prominent man, for every fight must be honored with the 
presence of some ^Miigh-toned" individual, while behind 
stands the bugler, a small boy in gay uniform, with a 
bugle slung to his side, by which he conveys the judge's 
>7hispere(:l commands t9 the fighters in the rin^» 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



41 



Below the judge hangs a row of banderillas. They are 
wooden sticks, about two feet long with a barbed spear of 
steel in the end , 



stuck in 
gore him. 




m 
which are 
the bull to 
to madness. They 
are always gayly dec- 
orated with tinsel 
and gaudy streamers 
of the national col- 
ors. Sometimes fire- 
crackers are ingeni- 
ously inserted, which 
go off when the ban- '^ '" ^ 

derilla is deftly fastened in the beast^s qvivering flesh. 

The bands play alternately lively airs, the audience ft'^^ 
once find no charms in the music and forget to mnrmill* 
mauana, but soon begin to cry ^^El toro! El toroP' 
(The bull! the bull!) 

The judge nods to the bugler, and as he trumpets forth 
the gate is swung open and the grand entry is made. 
Eirst comes '' El Oapitan'' or matador, chief of the ring, 
and the men who kill the bull with a sword. Next eighfc 
capeadores, whose duty consists in maddening the bull 
and urging it to fight by flinging gay- colored capas or capes 
in its face. Two picadores, who are armed with long 
poles, called picas, in the end of which are sharp steel 
spears which they fight the bull with. After come the 
lazadores, dressed in buckskin suits, elaborately trimmed 
with silver ornaments and broad, expensive sombreros. 
They ride fine horses, and do some very pretty work at 
lassoing. Three mules abreast, with gay plumes in their 
heads, and a man with a monstrous wheelbarrow of an- 
cient make, close up the rear. All range before the 
judge and make a profound bow, after which the mules 
and wheelbarrow disappear. 

The dresses of the fighters are very gforgeous: satin 
knee-breeches and sack coat of beautiful colors, and 
highly ornamented, beaded, etc. On the arm is carried 
the capa, a satin cape, the color of the suits, and little 
rough caps, tied under the chin, grace the head. At the 
back of the head is fastened false hair, like a Chinaman's, 
familiarly known as "pig tail.'' Two gayly painted 



42 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



clowns, who, unlike those in the States^, never have any- 
thing to say, are always necessary to complete the com- 
pany in the ring. 

Again the bngle sounds, the band strikes out in all its 
might, the people rise to their feet and cry '^ El toro," 
the fighters form a semicircle around a door, el capitan 
draws a bolt, flings it open, and as the bull springs forth 
from his dark and narrow cell a man perched above sticks 
two handerillas into his neck to madden him. With a 
snort of rage he rushes for the capas. As they are flirted 
before his eyes, he tramples them under his hoofs, and 
the cajjeadors escape behind the loiirladera, a partition 
^ix feet wide, placed in the arena at four places equally 
•istant. 

■^ At the trumpet sound a banderilla runs out waving the 
^^nderillas above his head. He faces the maddened bull 
Sith a calm smile. The bull paws the ground, lowers 
his head, and with a bellow of rage makes for his victim. 
Your eyes are glued to the spot. It is so silent you can 

hear your heart throb. 
There can be no pos- 
sible escape for the 
man. But just as you 
think the bull will lift 
him on his horns you 
see the two banderillas 
stuck one in either 
side of the neck, and 
the man sj^rings safely 
over the lowered head 
and murderous horns 
of the infuriated animal, as it rushes forward to find tlie 
victim has escaped. The audience shout '^ bravo,'' and 
wave their scrapes, sombreros and clap their hands. The 
bull roars with pain, and the banderillas toss about in the 
lacerated flesh, from which the blood pours in crimson 
streams. '^Poor beast! what a shame,'' we think, and 
even then the order is given for the picador to attack the 
bull. 

The horse on which the picador is mounted is bought 
only to be killed. It is an old beast whose days of beauty 
and usefulness are over; $2 or $4 buys him for the pur- 
pose. Sometimes he is hardly able to walk into the ring. 




SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 43 

First the brnte is blindfolded witli a leather band, and a 
leather apron is fastened around his neck in pretense of 
saving him from being gored. 

The picador guides the blinded horse to face the bull. 
Capas are flung before the bull tauntingly. The picador 
dives the pica into the beast and it vents its pain on the 
horse. Blood pours from the wound; trembling the 
horse stands, unable to see what has wounded it. Again 
they coax the bull to charge, and place the horse so that 
the murderous horns will disembowel it. Down goes 
the blinded beast, and the capeadores flaunt their capas 
at the bull while tha picadore gets off the dying ?inma 1, 
which is lassoed and dragged from the ring. Anothf-r 
horse is brought in, and the same work is j-one ovir 
until'the horse is killed. ^ ^ 

Every bull is allowed to kill two horses, ar^ then t:'.ie 
people shout '' if?^erie ' muerie!" (Kill the Dull.) The 
judge gives the command and the matador bows to, the 
judge, and then teases the bull with his r/i^ capa. 'The 
laws prohibit a fighter to strike a bul]'" until it first 
charges, and the bull has the chance of ti^^ee cb-ti'ges at 
the matador before he dares to strike, ^''^^he "^i-iH never 
appears to see the man by his side, but furiously fights 
the red capa held before him. Fl capitan then plunges 
the sword into the neck between the shoulders and 
through to the heart, if deftly done, after which the bull 
staggers, protrudes its tongue, tries to find a door for 
escape, stumbles and dies. Again the people shout, and 
the matador, as he makes his bow to the judge, is thrown 
money, cigars, fruit, flowers and other favors. Men fling 
in their 150 and 1100 so^nhreros, and consider it a great 
honor when he picks them up and tosses them back. 
During all this the three mules are brought in. At the 
sight of the dead bull tliey plunge ^id tear, but are 
finally hitched to it. The clowns jump on the dead 
beast, and it is hauled from the ring. 

When the bull is tame and, though tortured on all sides, 
still refuses to gore the horse, the people hiss and shout 
^'lazadore," m\t\\i\\Q]\\digQ gives the command for the 
brute, that is more humane than its tormentors, to be re- 
moved and replaced by one that will sate their feverish 
desire for blood. Now is the time for the lazadores to 
get in some pretty work. The space is small and cramped. 



44 SIX MOX\THS IN MEXICO. 

but with a deftness that is bewildering they throw the 
loop over the horns. The knowing horse dodges, the 
bull loses his balance and the horse gives a sudden jerk, 
throwing the bull on the ground. He is then allowed to 
arise and is started around the ring at a merry gallop, 
while the second lazadore exhibits great skill in lassoing 
the feet, front and baclv, of the running beast. 

The bull, after being thrown, realizes he is at their 
mercy, and lies passive; or trembling with fear and 
pain, while the brutal clowns spring astride the prostrated 
beast, and with no gentle hand tear the banderillas from 
tfne Tj^ivering flesh, which, still warm and dripping with 
bhood, KG sold as trophies at one and two dollars each. 
1^^'hen tie butcher steps forth and with a sharp knife cuts 
tjhe spinU cord, and the beast is done for. When a bull 
rfe|fuses tofig^^t before he is cut, except for wounds from 
the pica aid banderillas, the people cry in Spanish, ''He 
is {% weak wc^ian,^-' until the judge orders his removal. It 
is dV*:gicult w(?i'k, and affords much tiiu for the Mexicans, 
for tile bull mi^st be forced back into the dark cell whence 
he camA^ 

One fig'Kt co-'^sists of four bulls and as many old horses 
as they can be compelled to kill. A bull is not consid- 
ered much unless he can kill, at the very least, two 
horses. The ]30or horses are very seldom killed instantly. 
When wounded so that it is impossible for them to walk, 
they are dragged from the ring-and left in a vacant field, 
where they die that night or the following day, as the 
Mexicans do not consider them worth a bullet. The bull 
finds more mercy. If not killed outright by the mata- 
dor, a butcher finishes the work, and ends the misery. 
When stabbed fatally he often staggers along the fence, 
as though in hopes of finding an exit. The cruel spec- 
tators are not satisfied that he is dying, and allow him 
some little mercy, but stab his wounded flesh, tear open 
his death wound, twist his tail, do all in their power to 
enhance his sufferings until he falls dead. One would 
suppose the heated, tortured, wounded beef would be of 
no account, but such is not the case. Before many 
hours, after taken from the scene of its death, the beef 
is being sold to the people, who buy it without the least 
hesitancy or disgust, even boasting that they eat of the 
bull that killed so many horses, and if it happened to 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



45 



kill a man it is considered an honor to eat of it. This 
makes an American want little beef, and that little cov- 
ered with red pepper to kill the taste. When seated op- 
posite the entrance gate one has fnll view of the butcher 
at work. The hide is taken off the toro immediately, 
and it is dissected. Then they commence on the horses, 
but they claim the horses" flesh is not sold for beef. 

At some fights the spectators are favored with a per- 
former, who allows the maddened toro to attack him, 
when, by the aid of a long pole, he jumps clear over it. 
This is a dangerous and, many times, a fatal leap, but is 
a favorite sight of the people. 

After the fight comes the toro emholado. A bull with 
balls on its horns is led in. All the paid fighters leave 
the*ring and any one among the spectators who has a de- 
sire to try the sport can do so. The number is not few, 
and the sight is really funny. They wave their serapes 
at the bull, who, in return, often tosses them on his 
horns. The lazadores prevent him from trampling them, 
and it is very seldom any one is killed, though broken 
arms and ribs are no unusual thing. This is the proud- 
est day of the Mexican^s life when he gains access to the 
bull ring and can ex- 
hibit to people his 
activity and daring. 
The most risky ama- 
teur is then given a 
position as fighter, a 
position he considers 
greater than the 
presidency of the 
United . States, and 
for which he would 
not exchange. 

The government charges a license of 1250 for each 
fight. If the bulls are tame the show is fined for giving 
a poor performance and swindling the people. The ma- 
tador, El Capitan, whose duty it is to strike the bull's 
heart with a sword, gets the highest salary, as much as 
1200 a performance; the other fighters receive from 110 
to $100. 

Sometimes a fight is given for charitable purposes. 
Young girls dressed like brides in white satin, veil and 




46 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

satin shoes, do all the directing, and j^oung men of posi- 
tion and birth are the fighters. 

It is to be supposed that when a man is killed in the 
ring the fight would sto]3, but that only seems to whet 
their desire for more blood, and a dead man is pulled oil 
the field and another takes his place amid increased 
enthusiasm. At a fight two weeks ago one man was 
gored almost to death, another had his arm broken, and 
a woman, who had witnessed this from her seat, entered 
the ring and tried to kill the bull. She was caught on 
its horns and carried once around the ring and vhirled 
around in her perilous position like a top. The audience 
shouted and was much disappointed when the bull cast 
the woman to the ground, devoid of clothing and badly- 
bruised, but alive. At another fight three men were 
killed. Both times the sj^ectators could hardly be forced 
to leave at the end of the performance. It is safe to as- 
sert that that beef sold at a high price. 

Bernardo Javino, the man who was gored almost to 
death two weeks ago, has quite a history. He came 
from Spain fifty-one j^ears ago, and is eighty-two years 
old, the oldest lighter in Mexico, and the most famous. 
Ho has fought in every bull ring in the republic, and has 
killed four thousand bulls. Senor Javino is a well-built, 
fine-looking fellow, and though but lacking eighteen 
years of one hundred is as strong as a man of thirty- five. 
He is a great favorite, and has received numerous and 
costly presents, among which he numbers one thousand 
fine bulls. But he is to-day very poor, and has only his 
salary. He is unmarried. Though the idol and favorite 
of the people, they shouted with joy when they saw him 
being gored. The bull caught him in the small of the 
back, and though making only one wound outside made 
five inside. He was carried off for dead, but though 
having a wound that would have finished any other man, 
he is still living, and asserts he will repay many bulls 
yet for his sufferings. The bull that had the honor to 
nearly finish the old warrior, killed three horses, broke 
the man^s arm, and almost finished the woman. 

Senor Javino has a nephew, Jaan Moreno, who gives 
promise of being the best fighter, after his uncle, in the 
Republic. He is a six-footer of magnificent build, with 
a handsome face, fair complexion, with brown hair, re- 



Six MONTHS IN MEXICO. 47 

gembling a handsome American boy, in honor of whicli 
the Mexicans have named him El Americano (the Amer- 
ican). Tlieir' shouts are long and loud for El Ameri- 
cano, and presents are showered down on him. He can 
accomplish the daring feat of striking the bull's heart 
with one thrust of the sword, which he withdraws in- 
stantly. This is considered scientific, for when the sword 
strikes the heart it is very difficult to withdraw, and is 
most always left sticking in until the bull dies. In the 
frontier the horns are sawed off the bulls before they go 
in the ring, in order to make the fight fierce and bloodier. 
It is said they are trying to stop this cruel torture. 

The fight being finished the bands depart and the peo- 
ple make their way to the train with reluctance, where 
venders earn a mint of money by selling them pulque and 
a mixture of crushed corn and" red pepper, done up in 
corn husks, which is eaten with a relish. After this Mex- 
ican feast is finished the train pulls out, everybody, men, 
women, and children, light their cigarettes, and between 
pufis they discuss the merits and demerits of the fight. 
The homeward trip is a very joyous one, so much so that 
'' the daisy policeman ''are often called on to exert their 
influence in quieting the mirth. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE MUSEUM AiTD ITS CURIOSITIES. 

The first place tourists go on reaching Mexico is to the 
post-office. All one has to do when desiring to know what 
the latest incoming party looks like, is to take a position 
near the post-office. They stroll up the street, generally 
'' goose fashion," stopping now and again to gaze at some 
prostrated pulque drinker; a wardrobe moving up tlie 
street on a pair of bare legs— i. e., a woman with a half- 
dozen babies tied to her; an old cripple sitting on the 
walk selling ta%, or a blind man selling lottery tickets. 
Amid all this they manage at last to get into the office, 
and we see them emerge, a half -hour later, with funeral- 
like faces, and woman-like tongues giving their opinions 
of the officials who do not understand bad Spanish, not 
to mention English, and of the mails which take three 
days and the same number of nights to come from the 
nearest point of the States, El Paso, 



48 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

For the want of something better to do we will follow 
them to the next point of interest— the museum — which 
is in the same building, several doors above the post- 
office. It is not the kind of a museum where you have a 
two-cent show for a ten-cent silver piece, but it is a place 
that any city might be proud of. At the top of the 
stairs, for the museum is on the second floor, are several 
large paintings of religious subjects and an immense mir- 
ror with a fine frame, which was stolen from sonn 
cathedral during one of the many revolutions of Mexico. 

The first room contains a life-size portrait of Maximil- 
ian, seated on a beautiful white steed. Around are Mexi- 
cans gazing at him with admiration and awe. Maximil- 
ian is a handsome man, and the picture is said to be the 
finest of Maximilian in existence. If so, he was indeed, 
by virtue of looks, worthy to be an emperor. 

In the center of the room on a table is the silver serv- 
ice, composed of one hundred and seventy- six pieces, 
used by Maximilian and Carlotta. Each piece bears the 
arms of the empire and the mark of the factory ^' Cris- 
tofle." It is massive and elegant; little silver cupids 
with wreaths of flowers are placed in every available spot. 
Many of the pieces are a load for two men. A bronze 
bust, life size, of Maximilian, has decorations and ten 
halberds, silver-mounted with blue and gold trimmings, 
ordered by the emperor to be used by the Palace Guard 
on state occasions, are all placed side by side. In a case 
in the same room are a number of loose pieces of armor 
worn by the conquerors. Two pieces, a breast plate and 
helmet, have the name of ^^ Pedro de Alvarado,'^ the 
Spanish captain who made the world-famous leap near 
Noche Triste. 

Portraits of sixty-two Spanish Viceroys line the room. 
They were removed from the national palace here, on the 
establishment of the independence of the Republic. The 
frames are of black wood and the paintings are old style. 
It may have been the fashion in the day of white queues 
to alwaj^s have one '' o^'' eye, for one eye in nearly all 
the pictures goes a different direction from its mate, and 
in many instances the ^^ off ^^ eye is as roguish as a little 
brother, making you imagine the old rascals are going 
to wink,, while the opposite orb gazes out in saint-like 
expression. The effect is ludicrous. The glass-ware of 



SiJi: MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



40 



tlie Emperor Iturbide^ containing excellent portraits of 
himself and Qhapnltepec Castle, is also shown in this 
room. In the next room, in a glass case, lyina; on a red 
satin, gold covered pillow, is a plaster paris cast of the 
face of Juarez, the much beloved Indian President; 
hairs of his head are still adhering to the plaster, and it 
is certainly the finest thing of the kind ever executed. 

The portraits of Fernando Cortes Agustin de Iturbide, 
Emperor I., Ignacio Allende, one of the earliest patriots 
of Mexico, the great Antonio Lopez 
de Santa Ana and Don Vicente 
Guerrers, who was the third Presi- 
dent of the Republic, are here, to 
say nothing of other things of his- 
toric value, such as the arms of the 
Mexican Republic made in 1829, 
surrounded with Indian mosaic 
feather work; an old, worn damask 
banner used by Cortes in his second 
expedition against the great Mon- 
tezuma, and the arms of the city 
of Texcoco, presented by Charles 
v., of Germany, and Charles I., of 
Spain. 

The little idols perhaps attract 
more attention than anything else 
at the museum. In two long rooms 
the cases lining the walls are filled 
with idols of all sizes and shapes, 
made of stone onyx and marble. 
Some of the pottery is horribly ex- 
quisite. Beads used by the Indians, 
made of stones, teeth and bones, are numerous. The 
large objects on the pedestals come in for a share of won- 
der. They are adorned with names of wondrous length 
and non-pronounceable, and stories of horror. Izcozauh- 
qui (the Eire of the Sun) is in ugly red and yellow clay; 
Huitzilopoxtli (the God of War), a black clay image, 
equally ugly. A clay urn with carved faces, flowers and 
fruits on the outside, is called the *■* Funeral Urn." The 
'^Goddess of Death ^Ms an image some fifty inches in 
height, with large round eyes formed of bone, and out- 
stretched hands of the same material. Her skirts are 




go six lIONTiiS IN MEXICO. 

formed of serpents and her head is a skull. Large brown 
earthen jars, said once to have held sacred fires, are among 
the collection. It may be historically correct and all the 
horrible tales connected with these things true, but the 
more one looks the less probable it seems, and after all 
they may have been innocent statues and flower vases 
used by this people in former days. It is just as likel}^, 
and easier to be believed, for how can it be asserted, when 
they are unearthed after centuries, that they were used 
for any special purpose. Of course the more sensational 
the story the better for iDrint, but it is much easier to be- 
lieve they were only harmless objects in some park or 
flower garden. 

History tells us the Aztecs knew no alphabet, and used 
in place certain signs or figures for every subject — his- 
tory, religion, feasts, wars, famines, and even poetry. 
The art of writing in this manner was taught by the 
priests, and handed down from father to son. Painters 
had to be frequently called to decipher the documents, 
and were treated with the highest consideration by the 
7iobility. The manuscript employed was made of maguey 
and other plants and of skins. The Spanish destroyed 
the majority of these manuscripts, which would have 
been of great value if preserved. A few are now in the 
museum. From an artistic point of view they are hor- 
rid. 

The colors they used in painting are nearly always in- 
delible and very bright. One of the paintings shows a 
snow-capped mountain, Popocatepetl, and to the left the 
City of Mexico, entirely surrounded by water. A fifty 
foot maguey paper painted in black, contains the history 
of the Aztecs. How they left an island which held a 
temple and came to Mexico, establishing the city, with 
all the principal events which befell them in their wan- 
• derings. The battle of Noche Triste and the advent of 
the Spanish, are carefully portrayed. This is one of the 
famous picture writings, which are too tiresome to 
enumerate further. 

The feather shield which belonged to Montezuma II., 
is in a frame in the same room with the picture writing. 
It is an old, worn-out, faded thing, and hangs too far 
away to be seen well. It was among the curiosities given 
by Cortes to the Emperor Charles V. He in turn pre- 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 51 

sented ifc to the Museum of Vienna, where it remained 
until Maximilian restored it to Mexico. 

One room is devoted to the display of Mexican mar- 
bles, stones, ores, etc. Another has petrified snakes, 
wood, human and animal bones. Cow horns measuring 
seven feet from tip to tip were excavated somewhere near 
Mexico. Elephant jaws and tusks which treble the size 
of those sported by the late lamented Jumbo are also 
from the historic, mysterious earth of Mexico. Among 
the many other things were noticed human bones pro- 
truding through a rock, and a turtle^s shell which, if 
opened, would make a carpet for a grand salon. 

Snakes, lizards, fish and crabs of all kinds fill one good 
sized room, divided in the center by stuffed alligators, 
sword fish, crocodiles and boa constrictors. This opens 
into another department, and here you meet the Mexican 
dudes occasionally. There are few collections of birds to 
equal this. Added to their own numerous beautiful and 
rare birds are specimens from all parts of the world. The 
work is especially fine, and the birds and fowls appear as 
if in life. One thing to be regretted is they have no but- 
terflies. In all the museum they have but one small case, 
and they are the beauties which come from Brazil. The 
collection of beetles is somewhat larger, but still is noth- 
ing remarkable. 

Monstrosities are quite plenty. One little calf has one 
head, one large eye in the center of its forehead, and two 
perfect bodies. Another has one perfect body and two 
heads. Two pheasants are fastened together like the 
Siamese twins. Dogs, cats, chickens, and even babies 
come in for their share of doubling up into all kinds of 
queer shapes. Monkeys, baboons, gorillas and a dilapi- 
dated elephant and giraffe finish this interesting quarter. 

The court of the museum is planted with beautiful 
flowers and trees. Large idols were once standing there, 
but they have been moved inside of the building opposite 
the entrance. The idols can lay no claim to beauty, and 
are anything but interesting, except to people who have 
a wonderful amount of faith and a capacity to believe a 
fellow-creature^s wild imagination. Scientific gentlemen 
with Ions: faces and one eye-glass gaze at the images and 
translate, or at least pretend to, the hieroglyphics which 
cover them. We would not think for a moment of putting 



53 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

an opinion against one held by wise men since the time 
of the Conquest^ and we would not like to say Bernal Diaz 
had an object in making the Indians as black as pos- 
sible, but we would like to gently hint our little observa- 
tions. 

The sacrificial stone, where they claim fifty tliousand 
people have been sacrificed, looks little as if intended for 
that bloody purpose. The stone is perfectly round, be- 
tween four and six feet across and about two feet in 
thickness. On the upper side is sculptured the image of 
the sun or moon and on the sides are groups of men, fif- 
teen in number, and fifteen separate grouj^s. Certain 
hieroglyphics accompany each group. The work is fine, 
and must have been done with great care and patience 
by a master hand. Marring the top is a rudely cut hole 
with a shallow groove running to the edge. If these 
people were making a sacrificial stone would they have 
cut fine figures, requiring care and time, and then spoil 
them by cutting out a big hole? Would not the basin 
have been cut out finely and the carvings made to fit? I 
may be lacking in knovv^ledge and faith, but I have tried 
to believe, have gazed on the stone with the thought, 
'^History says the blood of fifty thousand human beings 
has dripped down over that stone,''' but proofs assert 
themselves, and the poor scandalized thing seems to hold up 
every side and the ugly marring of its beauty, and reply, 
''Now, do I look as if I was made for that purpose?" 

Though believing it was nothing more than an inno- 
cent Aztec calendar, we will repeat the sensational le- 
gend that covers it with a bloody cloak. There existed 
an Aztec order which worshiped the sun, and on this 
stone they sacrificed human beings, calling them the 
"messenger to the sun.^' The ''messenger," who was 
always a prisoner, was painted half red and half white. 
Even his face was divided in this manner. A white 
plume was glued to his head. In one hand he carried a 
gaily trimmed walking-stick, and in the other a shield 
with cotton on it, and on his back was a small bundle of 
different articles. Music was played as he ascended the 
stairway to the temple. There he was greeted by some 
high priest, who commanded him to go to the sun, pre- 
sent the articles he carried and deliver messages they 
sent. Finally, when he reached the summit, he turned 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 53 

toward the sun and in a loud voice proclaimed what was 
told him. Then they took away his bundles and cut his 
throat, drenching the sun on the stone and filling the 
bowl with his blood. "When the blood ceased to flow the 
heart was cut out and held aloft to the sun until cold. 
Then the message was delivered. 

It is said the Aztec calendar was carved in 1479, and 
its inauguration was celebrated with fearful sacrifices, 
but the conquering Cortes had it pulled down, and it re- 
mained buried until lowering the grade of the ancient 
pavement in 1790, when it was built in the soathwestern 
tower of the cathedral. There it remained until about 
a year ago, when it was removed to the museum, where 
it now occupies a prominent position. The Sad Indian, 
a statue so-called because 
it was unearthed on a street 
of that name, is a jolly- 
looking fellow, and com- 
pels one^s admiration, de- 
spite his broad nose and 
ugly features. So far I 
have heard no blood-curd- 
ling tales connected with 
him, but the wiseacre 
shakes his head solemnly 
and replies: ^^ Hundreds of 
human bemgs were sacri- 
ficed on his account, but 
the history has escaped my 
memory." Meanwhile, the 
old fellow sits there with 
folded hands and a com- 
ical expression on his face,i 
thinking, probably, of the] 
duties which he once per- 
formed, which were, un- 
doubtedly, holding a lamp 
or a flag, as the hole through the folded hands and be- 
tween the feet directly beneath proves. 

It is quite interesting to roam around and examine 
this broad face and that slim one, from those of mam- 
moth size to ones the size of one^s hand. We grow to 
like the queer objects which certainly formed some part 




54 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

in the lives of those strange people who lived and died 
centuries before us. 

In one corner locked up in a cell by itself is the coach 
of Maximilian and Oarlotta. It is one of the finest in the 
world, and is similar in construction and finish to that 
used on State occasions by the Czar of Russia. The 
coach was a present to Carlotta from Napoleon II. It is 
so fine that it is difficult to give a description of it. The 
royal coat of arms is on every available spot, on the doors 
and above, wrought in gold, and embroidered in gold on 
the crimson velvet which covers the driver's seat. The 
entire coach is gold and crimson except for the inside, 
which is heavy white silk, cords, fringe and tassels of the 
same. Gold cherubs the size of a three-month-old baby 
finish each corner. The carriage was drawn by eight 
pure white horses or the same number of coal black ones, 

and as it swept down 
the grand passes to 
superb Chapultepec, 
holding its royal own- 
ers, it must have 
been a sight fit for 
kings. But it stands 
to-day a silent me- 
mento of a murdered 
(^. young emperor and a 
blighted emjDress. All 
the men employed at 
the museum are dis- 
abled soldiers, and it 
speaks well of the government to give them this employ- 
ment. They seem to rightly belong in among this queer 
stuff, for it would take half a dozen of them to make a 
whole man. The museum is open only from ten to 
twelve, and is free to all. 

But our tourists are even now standing on the outside, 
wondering if they have not fasted enough to do penance 
for all the sins ever committed; and if they will get much 
else than frijoles, rice, and red peppers for dinner — or, 
more properly speaking, breakfast. We know just what 
they will visit this afternoon, and if you care to see it 
also we will try, in our humble way, to show you around. 




six MONTHS IN MEXICO, 



CHAPTER X. 

HISTORIC TOMBS AKD LOKELY GRAVES. 

Howmucli I would like to paint tlie beauties of Mexico 
in colors so faithful that the people in the States could 
see what they are losing by not coming here. How I 
would like to show you the green valley where the heat 
of summer and blast of winter never dare approach; 
where every foot of ground recalls wonderful historical 
events, extinct races of men and animals, and civilization 
older by far than the pyramids. Then would I take you 
from the table-land to the mountain, where we descend 
into deep canons that compare in their strange beauty 
with any in the world; the queer separation of the earth, 
not more than 100 feet from edge to edge of precipice, 
but 400 feet deep. More wonderful still is the sight when 
the rainy season fills these gorges with a mad, roaring tor- 
rent. Then would I lead you to the edge of some bluff 
that outrivals the Palisades— and let you look down the 
dizzy heights 500 feet to the green meadows, the bloom- 
ing orchards, the acres of pulque plant, the little homes 
that nestle at the foot of this strange wall. Then further 
up into the mountains you could see glaciers, grander, it 
is claimed, than any found in the Alps. Here are buried 
cities older than Pompeii, sculptures thousands of years 
old, hieroglyphics for the wise to study, and everywhere 
the picturesque people in their garb and manners of cent- 
uries ago— and all this within a day's travel from the 
city. Surely in all the world there is none other such 
wonderful natural museum. 

Business men who wish to rest from their labors find 
perfect quiet in this paradise. All cares vanish. Some 
strange magic seems to rob one of all care, of every de- 
sire to hurry. Railways furnish comfortable and safe 
transportation; the people are attentive and polite, and 
as many comforts are attainable as at any other place 
away from the States. People who have any desire to see 
Mexico in all its splendor should come soon, for civiliza- 
tion's curse or blessing, whichever it may be, has surely 
set a firm foot here, and in a few years, yielding to its 
influence, all will be changed. Already the dark-eyed 
senora has changed the lovely, graceful mantilla for stiff; 



m six MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

ugly bonnets and liats; the poor Indian woman is replac- 
ing the fascinating reboza with a horrid shawl; the In- 
dian man is changing sandals for torturing shoes and the 
cool linen pantaloons and serape for American 23antaloons 
and coat. Civilization and its twin sister, style, have 
caught them in their grasp, and unless you come soon 
Mexico will cease to be attractive except as a new Cali- 
fornia. 

There is one thing I hope will ever remain, and that is 
the graveyard of San Fernando, where most of the illus- 
trious dead of Mexico are entombed. But it is doubtful, 
as a little beyond are the fine houses of the foreign rep- 
resentatives, and the houses are crowding up to the gate 
of this dead city as though trying to push it out of exist- 
ence. An old cathedral, fac(3d by a green plaza, rears its 
head at one side, near the massive iron gates which the 
keeper, sitting just within its portals, swings open and 
admits one with a welcome that is surprising. All around 
are people buried in the walls. The plates are decorated 
in all manner of ways. Some have a little niche which 
hold the image of the Virgin and several candles. Others 
arc hung with wreaths, and some with crepe. The ma- 
jority have places to hold candles, which are burnt there 
on certain days. The nearest tomb to the gate holds the 
remains of a young girl who died, quite suddenly, on the 
day she was to be married, just an hour before the time 
appointed. Near here is erected a fine shaft in honor of 
General Ignacio Comonfort, who was a President once, 
but was shot at Molino de Toria, K"ovember 13, 1863, by 
the Americans. Several yards beyond is a plain, brown 
stone, built in an oblong box shape, with a large, stone 
cross in the cente]'. It is weather-beaten and worn, and 
looks to be centuries old. All the information it gives a 
stranger is in two large initials, T. M., rudely cut on the 
side. 

No date or usual verse of regret from loving fjiendsis 
inscribed, and somehow a thrill of pity strikes one for 
T. M., as it seems to be the only grave in all that quiet 
city that bears no mark of loving hands. I took my pen- 
knife and hastily cut in the soft stone E. I. P. When 
the Mexican friend, who had during this time been en- 
gaged with the gateman getting some information, came 
up he said: ^'The grave 3''ou stand beside is that of Gen- 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



57 



eral Tomas Mejia, who was shot with Maximilian, and 
here is the tomb of the other/"* It was similar in shape 
to General Mfejia% but some kind hand had hung 
wreaths on the cross. General Miguel Miramon was 




president of the republic before Maximilian. He was a 
brave and good man, and the emperor well knew his 
worth. 

AVhen they stood up to be shot^ Maximilian in the cen- 
ter, Mejiaon the right and Miramon on the left, the cen- 
ter of course being considered the place of honor^, Maxi- 



58 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

milian, toucliing Miramon on the slionlder, said: ''You 
are more worthy this place than I," and he exchanged 
places^ and so they died. 

The tomb of Benito Juarez, the Indian President, is 
the finest in tlie place. It is a long marble tomb. On it 
lies the life-size body of Juarez, partly covered with a 
mantle. Sitting at his head, with her bauds on his heart, 
is a beautiful woman, representative of the nation mourn- 
ing for its much beloved President. The whole is a per- 
fect study, and was designed and executed by a Mexi- 
can. 

The life of Juarez is a very romantic one. He is fa- 
miliarly known as the ''Lincoln of Mexico." He was 
born in the State of Oaxaca, 180G, and at the age of 
twelve years could neither read nor write. He was a full- 
blooded Indian, and could not even speak the Spanish 
language. However, he tried to improve his time, and in 
1847 he was Governor of his native State. He went to 
New Orleans, on being banished by Santa Anna, but re- 
turned to Mexico in 1855 and became President of the 
Court of Justice. When Comonfort was overthrown by 
the clerical party, Juarez set himself up at Vera Criiz as 
Constitutional President of the Republic. The United 
States recognized him as such, and he successfully fought 
the priesthood and confiscated all the church i3roperty. 
When Maximilian ascended the throne, Juarez sent his 
family to New Orleans, but he remained here until com- 
pelled to cross the frontier. The United States, which 
had always favored Juarez, interfered in his behalf. At 
the termination of the War of the Rebellion Maximilian 
was betrayed and shot, and Juarez was re-elected in 1871, 
and died in office June 18, 1872. 

He has a daughter who is married and living in Mex- 
ico in greater style than the president. She resembles 
her father. A story is told of Juarez that is new at the 
very least. He had plenty of enemies, especially among 
the church party. One day he sent a band out to capture 
an outlaw, who, notwithstanding his enemies, stood well 
with the clergy. The bandit was met on the highway 
and shot before he could utter a prayer. They said his 
soul was lost, and Juarez was to blame. When he was 
dying it was endeavored to keep the matter quiet, and 
the people were in ignorance of his fatal illuess until one 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 59 

morning they saw a notice posted on street corners, which 
read in this style: 

''Hell, 1.30. Juarez just arrived. Devil putting on 
his tail.'' 

It was signed by the name of the bandit. 

General Ignacio Zaragoza, the conqueror of the French 
in Puebla, May 5, 1862; General Vincente Guerrero, 
one of the principal heroes of the War of Independence; 
Mariano Otero, one of Mexico's most famous orators; 
Melchor Ocampo, a very distinguished philosopher and 
politican, and the companion and right hand of Juarez, 
helping him to establish the liberal principles; Francisco 
Zarco, one of the Constitutionalists; General Jose Joaquin 
de Herrera, one of the best Presidents the Republic 
ever had, and other famous generals, statesmen, writers, 
and artists fill up this quiet spot. The gates are only open 
now to visitors. They no longer register dead guests. 

Among many other things Mexico can boast of is the 
public library. It is situated on Calle de San Augustin, 
in the old church and convent of Saint Augustin. The 
high iron fence which incloses it is topped with marble 
busts of famous orators and authors. The little green 
plot in front is filled with rare plants and fountains. 
The face of the church is a mass of wondrous carvings, 
and the vestibule is a crown of splendid architecture. 
Directly over the door leading into the room is the 
''World." On one side brass hands and figures tell the 
hour. Standing on one foot on top of it is a life-size 
figure of " Time," in bronze. The attitude, the scythe 
over the shoulder, the expression on the face, the long, 
flowing beard and hair are perfect. Opposite Time, and 
at the other end of the room is the Mexican coat of 
arms. Book-cases line each side, and in the center are 
reading-desks and easy-chairs. At the right " entrance is 
a large statue of Humboldt, and on the left Cuvier. 
Opposite one another are Descartes and Copernicus, 
Dante and Alarcon, Origen and Virgil, Plato and 
Cicero, Homer and Confucius, and in the center a large 
figure with a book in hand marked *"' Science." 

The books are catalogued under the heads of philoso- 
phy, history, fiction, etc., and are placed in cases alpha- 
betically. They are in all languages, and many of them 



GO SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

are very ancient. Some are on parchment and in picture 
writing. The library has catalogued one hundred and 
sixty thousand volumes, and owns many besides that are 
not yet sorted and arranged. It is oper from 10 A. M. to 
5 p. M., and is equally free to all. It is well patronized 
by men, but it is safe to say no woman has ever read a 
book inside its walls. The only women who ever enter 
are tourists. The books are not permitted to go outside 
the building. A man gets a printed card. On it he 
writes the title, number and case of his book, and when 
the hour comes to close he lays the book on the desk of 
the janitor and gives his card to the superintendent. 
Many of the ancient books were taken at the time of the 
confiscation of the monasteries and convents. 

The carnival passed off very quietly. As I said before, 
Mexico is becoming civilized, and doing away with many 
ancient and beautiful customs. In former years every 
day on carnival week the paseo was crowded with oiasked 
men and women in historic and comic garb, and battles 
were fought with empty egg-shells and queerly con- 
structed things for the same purpose. This year every 
person went, but only the fewest number were masked. 
Some few among the lower class threw egg-shells. Be- 
yond this all was quiet. It has also been the custom to 
give fancy-dress and masked balls. In all the theaters 
public balls were held and the clubs gave private recep- 
tions. The French Club had their rooms nicely deco- 
rated and the best people attended, dressed in the finest 
and most original costumes. Perhaps the most striking 
one was a creamy satin embroidered with red roses and 
covered with natural butterflies of gorgeous and brilliant 
hue. The young ladies all wore their dresses just reach- 
ing their knees, and the fancy boots displayed were 
something marvelous; satin of all shades, embroidered 
with gold and silver, and trimmed with flowers. 

One couple, who have been lately engaged, were dressed 
alike. The girl wore a short dress of white satin, pro- 
fusely trimmed with pompons of white fur; white satin 
boots trimmed the same way, and over her loose hair of 
marvelous length and thickness was a point lace veil. 
The groom wore satin knee breeches, short coat, high 
hat and boots, all covered with the white fur pompons. 
They were accompanied by the mother, in a brocade 



^IX MONTHS m MEXICO. 61 

crimson velvet on a canary background and rich yellow 
lace, low-necked and en train, and the father in common 
dress suit. The Mexican boys never appeared better than 
in the grand old dress of former days. Mostly crimson 
velvet and satin were affected, showing to an advantage 
their superb eyes and complexion. The women were re- 
markable for their homeliness. 

A grand supper of thirty-five courses was served and 
more wine, champagne and cigarettes consumed than 
would be done at forty receptions in the East. 

Now, having shown you how they do at private balls 
where only the elite are permitted to attend, would you 
like to don a mask and domino and sit with these very 
same people in the boxes at the theaters, and watch the 
promiscuous crowd beneath? It is not a select crowd by 
any means, but one composed of the lowest in the land. 
Yet men take their wives, sisters, and friends, masked, 
that they may w^atch through opera glasses this wonder- 
ful sight, and wives and sweethearts get friends to take 
them, that they, unseen, may see if husband or lover 
takes part in the revel, for the men are of the best and 
wealthiest families. 

At 11 o^clock the doors are flung open aud people come 
in slowly. The two bands play alternately the Spanish 
danza and the waltz. The women come in dressed in all 
the styles ever invented. One beautiful woman wore a 
blue satin dress, embroidered with pink rose buds. An- 
other wore blue, trimmed with beaded lace, which glit- 
tered like hundreds of diamonds in the gas-light. Two 
came together, one in black, the other in crimson velvet, 
profusely and gayly embroidered. Some were dressed 
after the style of the male dudes of the States, but the 
majority wore nothing but a comic-opera outfit, dotted 
with silver or gold spangles, according to the color. The 
men, with the exception of a half dozen, wore their com- 
mon suits, and never removed their hats. Nearly all the 
women wore their hair short, which they had powdered. 

At first they wore masks, but in a short time they were 
removed, and by 3 o'clock everybody was drunk. When 
a man refused to dance with a woman, a fight was the re- 
sult, and everybody would quit dancing until it was set- 
tled. One year fifteen men were killed during the week it 
lasted. This year but one has met his death. The ac- 



62 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

tions and dancmg of this mob will bear no description, 
and at 7 o'clock the performance ended. The manager 
of the National Theater has promised that his house shall 
never be used for this purpose again. 

The carnival was celebrated in fine style at Amecameca, 
right at the foot of the White Lady. Indians came from 
all parts of the country and paraded the entire week 
around the church and temple with lighted candles. At 
Puebla they had Qgg battles, and in all little places the 
feast was carried on as in former days. 

Sights in the city have begun to assume a familiar look, 
although one never tires of them, and I begin to think 
of moving elsewhere. 

The buried city is slowly being unearthed at San Juan. 
Already they have brought to light a house of mag- 
nificent size and finish, and in a few days it will be well 
worth a visit. Tourists have been going down regularly, 
but beyond a few men at work, little was to be seen. 
What they missed they furnished with their imagination, 
as did also some correspondents who would not wait to 
get legitimate news. 

The mint, which is situated in the suburbs of the city, 
is turning out fifty thousand dollars in silver per day. 
The first coin struck was in 1535, and in three hundred 
years they coined $2,200,000,000. The men employed 
get from one to two dollars a day. In a month from 
now the government is going to make fifteen million 
cents. Gold coin, although in use here, is not made 
more than once a month. 

The arsenal is in a fine old building directly in the op- 
posite direction from the mint. All departments are 
not running — for the lack of money, so they say. They 
make but three hundred and fifty entire guns a day, but 
have one million dollars' worth in stock. In one room 
they have a fine collection of arms, such as are used by 
every nation in the world. The iron and wood used is 
Mexican, the latter a superb walnut, which requires no 
oil or varnish. The people here employed get from one 
real (twelve and a half cents) to two dollars a day, the 
highest that is paid. 

The tourists who have such a mania for mementos 
have brought disgrace on themselves and others also. 
The governor has been very kind, and has thrown open 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 63 

the embassadors^ hall, without reserve, for their iu- 
pection. It is a beautiful place, containing life-size 
paintings of Washington, Juarez, Hidalgo and other 
illustrious men. The chandeliers, hung with brilliant 
cut-glass pendants, terra cotta and alabaster vases and 
handsome clocks, were once the property of Maximilian. 
At either end of the long hall are crimson velvet and 
gold-hung thrones, where the president receives his 
guests. Some trophy fiend, most probably some girl 
with the thought of a crazy patch, cut a large piece 
out of one of these damask curtains; consequently the 
governor has issued orders that no visitors shall be ad- 
mitted, and the Yankees have gone down one notch 
further in the scale where they already, by their own con- 
duct, hold a low position. It is to be hoped that those 
"vho come in the future may act so that no more shame 
will fall on us. 



CHAPTER XI. 

cupid's WOEK li^ stjkkylakd. 

Love! That wonderful something — the source of 
bliss, the cause of maddened anguish! Love and mar- 
riage form the basis of every plot, play, comedy, tragedy, 
story, and, let it be whispered, swell the lawyerV purse 
with breach of promise and divorce case fees. Yet it 
bloomy with a new-found beauty in every clime, and as 
there is no land in all the world more suitable for ro- 
mance than Mexico, it is pertinent to show how love is 
planted, cultivated and reaped in this paradise, so as to 
let our single readers in the States compare the system 
here with home customs and benefit thereby, whether by 
making good use of their own free style or cultivating a 
new, those interested must decide. 

Mexicans may be slowjn many things, but not slow in 
love. The laws of Mexico claim girls at twelve, and boys 
at thirteen years are eligible to marriage, and it is not an 
unusual sight to see a woman, who looks no more than 
thirty-five, a great-grandmother. As children, the Mex- 
icans are rather pretty; but when a girl passes twenty she 
gets ^^mucho-mucho" avoirdupois, and at thirty she 
sports a mustache and ^' gal ways" that would cause 



64 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

young bachelors in the States to turn green with envy. 
The men^ on the contrary, are slim and wiry, and do not 
boast of their hirsute charms, especially when in com- 
pany with women, as they have little desire to call at- 
tention to the contrast, and the diamond-ring finds other 
means of display than stroking and twisting an imag- 
inary mustache. Yet this exchange of charms interferes 
in no way with love-making, and the young man wafts 
sweet kisses from his finger-tips to the fair — no, dark — 
damsel, and enjoys it as much as if that black, silky 
down on her lip were fringing the gateway to his 
stomach. 

Boys and girls, even in babyhood, are not permitted to 
be together. Before very long they compel their eyes to 
speak the love their lips dare not tell, and with a little 
practice it is surprising how much they can say, and how 
cold and insipid sound words of the same meaning in 
comparison. 

All the courting is done on the street. When evening 
kindly lends its sheltering cloak, even though the moon 
smiles full-faced at the many love-scenes she is witness- 
ing, the girl opens her casement window and, with guitar 
in lier hand or dreamily watching the stars, she awaits 
her lover. If her room is on the ground floor she is in 
paradise, for then they can converse — he can even touch 
her hand through the bars. But if she is consigned to a 
room above she steps out on the balcony. If the distance 
is not too great, they can still converse; but otherwise, 
with the aid of pencil, paper, and tiny cord, they man- 
age to spend the evening blissfully without burning 
papa's coal and gas, and staying up until unseemly 
hours. 

The lovers are unmindful of the people who pass and 
repass, and the kind-hearted policeman never even thinks 
of telling the young man to ^^ move on." If the house 
IS secluded the lover tells his devotion in musical 
strains. Night is not only devoted to love-making, but 
in the broad light of day the young man will stand 
across the street and from the partly opened casement 
of the fair one are visible a hand and a nose — of 
course she has full view, but that is all that can be seen 
of her. With the hand they converse in deaf and dumb 
language^ which, added to their own signs, makes a 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



65 



large dictionary. It is not likely there exists a Mexican 
who is not an adept in the sign language. Courting is 
too vulgar a word for them, so they call it — translated in 
English — playing the bear. 

You would naturally wonder how a girl who never 
leaves her mother's or chaperon^s side, who never goes 
to parties, who is watched like a condemned murderess, 
would ever get a lover; but notwithstanding all this 
strictness they num- 
ber less old maids and 
more admirers than 
their sisters in the 
States. Perhaps while 
out driving, at the 
theater or bull-fights, 
they see a man they 
think they will like- 
He is similarly im- 
pressed. He follows 
his new - found one 
home, and she k:nows 
enough to be on the 
balcony awaiting his 
arrival with the 
shades of night. He ' 
may play the bear 
with her for a year' 
and she not know his 
name. He has the 
advantage, for he can 
find out everything 
about her family, and 
thereby deternline 
whether she is a de- 
sirable bride or not. 

Sometimes they play the bear for from seven to fifteen 
years — that is, if the parents are very wealthy— and even 
then not get the girl, for with all their passionate love they 
number many flirts. Often one girl will have two or 
more playing the bear at the same time. If they chance 
to meet they inquire, fiercely, ''Whom are you after .^'■ 
If the answer demonstrates the same girl, one will request 
the other to step aside, If he refuses a duel follows. 




66 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

After that the girl is bound, by the custom of her coun- 
try, to relinquish both. If a brother or father discovers 
a "bear," the latter must submit to a thrashing from 
their hands if he still desires to retain the girl's love. If 
a father notices the attention of a ''bear" and looks with 
favor upon him, lie does not disturb his ^'phaying.'^ 
When he concludes he has served long enough he is in- 
vited into the house. This means the same as if he had 
asked her hand in marriage and has been accepted. He 
is the intended husband^ but never for a moment is he 
alone with his fiancee. He may aspire to take the driver's 
place sometimes, or to take the entire family to the 
theater. 

A young American had been received in great favor 
by a Spanish family; probably the old man thought he 
would like an American for a son-in-law. However, 
young America was not going to waste any time sitting 
in the house with the old folks, so he politely requested 
the object of his admiration to go to the Italian opera. 
She graciously accej^ted. When he Avent to the house he 
found not only his lady love but the entire family pre- 
pared to accompany him. The deed was done; he could 
not back out, and for the i^rivilege of talking to the 
mother, with the daughter sitting on the other side cast- 
ing love-lit glances from her splendid eyes, he paid forty- 
three dollars. He was disgusted, and accordingly gave 
up his chance of being a member of a Mexican family. 

If a man gets impatient and feels like becoming re- 
sponsible for the price of his sweetheart's bonnets, he 
asks the father. If he is rejected he can go to a public 
official, swear out a notice to the effect that his and the 
girl's happiness is ruined by the father's heartlessness. 
He then secures a warrant, which gives him the privilege 
of taking the girl away bodily from the homre of her 
parents. This is a Mexican elopement. If, on the other 
hand, he is accepted, the wedding-day is named, and 
agreements are drawn up as to how much will be the 
daughter's portion at the death of her parents. Before 
that period she receives nothing. The intended husband 
furnishes the wedding outfit, and all the wearing apparel 
she has been using is returned to her parents. She has 
absolutely nothing. The groom buys the customary 
outfit — white satin boots^ white dress ^nd veil. 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 67 

A Mexican wedding is dijfferent from any other .n tlio 
world. First a civil marriage is performed by a public 
official. This by law makes the children of that couple 
legitimate and lawful inheritors of ilieir ^^arents^ prop- 
erty. This is recorded^ and in a few days — the day fol- 
lowing or a month after, just as desired — the marriage is 
consummated in the church. Before this ceremony the 
bride and groom are no more allowed alone together than 
when playing the bear. 'At a vfedding the other day the 
church was decorated with five hundred dollars" worth 
of white roses. The amount can be estimated when it is 
stated roses cost but four reals (fifty cents) per thousand. 
Their delicate perfume filled the grand, gloomy old edi- 
fice, which was lighted by thousands of large and small 
wax candles. Carpet was laid from the gate into the 
church, and when the bridal party marched in, the ipi]}e 
organ and band burst forth in one joyous strain. The 
priest, clad entirely in white vestments, advanced to the 
door to meet them, followed by two men in black robes 
carrying different articles, a small boy in red skirt and 
lace overdress carrying a long j)ole topped off with a 
cross. 

The bride was clad in white silk, trimmed with beaded 
lace, with train about four yards long, dark hair and 
waist dressed with orange blossoms. Over this, falling 
down to her feet in front and reaching the end of the 
train back, was a point lace veil. Magnificent diamonds 
were the ornaments, and in the gloved hands was a pearl- 
bound jDrayer-book. She entered a pew near the door 
with her mother — who was dressed in black lace — on one 
side and her father on the other. After answering some 
questions they stepped out, and the groom stood beside 
the bride, with groomsman and bridemaid on either side, 
the latter dressed in dark green velvet, lace, and bonnet. 
The priest read a long while, and then, addressing the 
girl first, asked her many questions, to which she replied, 
'^'Si, senor."" Then he questioned the .groom likewise. 
Afterward he handed the groom a diamond ring, which 
the latter placed on the little finger of the left hand of 
the bride. The priest put a similar ring on the ring- 
finger of the right hand of the groom, and a plain wed- 
ding ring on the ring-finger of the bride's right hand. 
Then, folding the two ringed hands together, he sprin- 



08 mx MONTHS m MEXICO. 

kled tliem with holy water and crossed them repeatedly. 
The band played '^Yankee Doodle/' and the bride, 
holding on to an embroidered band on the priest's arm, 
the groom doing likewise on the other side, they pro- 
ceeded up to the altar, where they knelt down. The 
priest blessed them, sprinkled them with holy water, and 
said mass for them, the band playing the variations of 
'^Yankee Doodle." A man in black robes put a lace 
scarf over the head of the bride and around the shoul- 
ders of the groom; over this again he placed a silver 
chain, symbolic of the fact that they were bound to- 
gether forever — nothing could separate them. 

After the priest finished mass he blessed and sprinkled 
them once more. Then from a plate he took seventeen 
gold dollars the groom had furnished and emptied them 
into his hands. The groom in turn emptied them into 
the hand of his bride, and she gave them to the priest as 
a gift to the Church and a token that they will always 
sustain, protect, and uphold it. Now the ceremony, 
which always lasts two to four hours, is ended, and the 
newly married jDair go into an adjoining room to receive 
the congratulations of their friends. 

The marriage festivities are often kept up for a week. 
After that the husband claims his bride, and right 
jealously does he guard her. Her life is spent in seclu- 
sion — eating, drinking, sleeping, smoking. The hus- 
band is desperately jealous and the wife is never allowed 
to be in the company of another man. Life to a Mexi- 
can lady in an American's view is not worthsliving. 

When death takes one away the dust remains buried 
for ten years, if the husband is wealthy. At the end of 
that time the bones, all that remains in this country, 
are lifted, placed in a jar and taken home and the tomb- 
stone used as an ornament. *^ See that case?'' said a 
Mexican. '^My first wife is in that, even to her finger- 
nails, and that is her grave-stone." So it was, there in 
the parlor, a dismal ornament and memento, 

Mexican carelessness does not extend to the saying of 
mass, A man had three daughters, and each was to in- 
herit 13,000,000. For this reason he would not allow 
them to marry. One died, and the anniversary of her 
death was celebrated in fine style. High mass was said, 
and a coffin arranged on a catafalque forty-four feet high 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 69 

recalled the dead woman. The coffin^ etc., were imported 
from Paris, and altogether the mass cost 130,000. That^s 
dying in high style. 

Mexicans who have been to the States much prefer the 
American style of calling on ladies, but it is not likely it 
will ever be the custom — for American residents here have 
adopted the Mexican style for their daughters, and most 
ridiculous and affected does it appear. American boys, 
however, have no time to waste on such manners, so they 
do their love-making by letters and go back to the States 
for their brides, leaving the American mammas to search 
among the Mexicans for ones to play the ^^ bear." 



CHAPTER XII. 

JOAQUIK MILLER Alt^D COPFIIS" STREET. 

Dear old Mexico shows her slippered foot, for summer 
is here. The fruit-trees are in blossom, the roses in 
bloom, the birds are plenty and everybody is wearing the 
Avidest sombrero. From 10 o^clock until 2 the sun is in- 
tensely hot, but all one has to do is to slip into the shade 
and the air is as cool as an unpaid boarding-house-keeper 
and fresh as a '' greengo " on. his first visit to the city. 
At night blankets are comfortable. Tourists are still 
flocking to Mexico, many with business intentions, and 
the United States at present is as well represented as any 
other foreign country. Yankees are looked on favorably 
by some of the better and more educated class of Mexi- 
cans, but others still retain their old prejudices. How- 
ever, one can hardly blame them, for, barring a few, the 
American colony is composed of what is not considered 
the better class of people at home.. They have come 
down here, got positions away above their standing, and 
consequently feel their importance; they are more than 
offensive, they are insulting in their actions and language 
toward the natives, and endeavor to run things. The 
natives offer no objections to others coming here and 
making fortunes in their land, but they have lived their 
own free and easy life and they do not propose to change 
it, any more than we wonld change if a small body of 
Mexicans would settle in our country; and we would 
quickly annihilate them if they would offer us the indig- 
nities the Americans subject them to here. 



70 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 

I dread the return and reports of sncli people in the 
States, for although there are good and bad here., the 
Mexicans have never been represented correctly. Before 
leaving home I was repeatedly advised that a woman was 
not safe on the streets of Mexico; that thieves and mur- 
derers awaited one at every corner, and all the horrors 
that could be invented were poured into my timid ear. 
There are murders committed here, but not half so fre- 
quently as in any American city. Some stealing is done, 
but it is petty work; there are no wholesale robberies 
like those so often perpetrated at home. The people are 
courteous, but of course their courtesy differs from ours, 
and the women — I am sorry to say it — are safer here than 
on our streets, where it is supposed everybody has the ad- 
vantage of education and civilization. If one goes near 
the habitation of the poor in the suburbs, they come out 
and greet you like a long absent friend. They extend 
invitations to make their abode your home, and offer the 
best they own. Those in the city, while always polite 
and kind, have grown more worldly wise and carefuL 

The people who give the natives the worst name are 
those who treat them the meanest. I have heard men 
who received some kindness address the donor as thief, 
scoundrel, and many times worse. I have heard Ameri- 
can women address their faithful servants as beasts and 
fools. One woman, who has a man-nurse so faithful that 
he would sacrifice his life any moment for his little 
charge, addressed him in my presence as: ''You dirty 
brute, where did you stay so long?" They are very quick 
to appreciate a kindness and are sensitive to an insult. 

Speaking of honesty they say the aquadores, or water- 
carriers, are the most honest fellows in the city. They 
have a company, and if any one is even suspected of 

stealing he is prohib- 
ited from selling any 
more water. At in- 
ftervals all over the 
city are large basins 
and fountains where 
they get their water. 
For four jars, two journeys, as they carry two jars at 
once, they receive six and a quarter cents, or one real; 
twelve and a half cents if they carry it up-stairs. Their 




SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 7l 

dress is very different from others. They wear pantaloons 
and shirt like an American and a large leather smock, 
which not only saves them from being wet but prevents 
the jars from bruising the flesh. They all wear caps, and 
the leather band of the jars is as often suspended from 
the head as from the shoulders. 

Americans who come to Mexico to reside should take 
out identification papers the first thing. It costs but lit- 
tle and saves often a lot of trouble. People when ar- 
rested have little Chance to do much even if they be in- 
nocent; they are thrown into prison and allowed to re- 
main there, without a trial, for often a year, and it is 
said a Mexican prison gains nothing in comparison with 
Libby prison of war fame. But if a man has his identi- 
fication papers he can present them and command an im- 
mediate trial, and it is given. There is an American 
now lying in prison here for shooting a Mexican woman; 
the woman was only shot through the arm, and yet the 
. man has been in jail, without even a change of clothing, 
for over a year. He is in a deplorable state, without 
much hope of it being bettered. The American Consul 
seems to have a disposition to help his countryman. He 
has been here but a month, and his first work deserves 
praise. .A man by the name of John Rivers, or Eodgers, 
shot a fellow in self-defense. 

It was a clear case, but the main witnesses had no 
desire to lay in jail, as the law requires, until the Ameri- 
can's trial came np, so they fled the country. The 
American could speak no Spanish. His trial was poorly 
-.^conducted, and he was sentenced to be executed at Zoca- 
I tftsjus, up the Central road. Consul Porch heard of the 
' case. He studied it out, found the man was not given a 
fair trial, and hastened off, reaching the scene of execu- 
tion but a short time before the hour appointed, but in 
time at least to postpone the tragedy. There is one great 
disadvantage Americans suffer from, and that is the gov- 
ernment sending out ministers and consuls who have no 
knowledge of the language in the country to which they 
go. It would be a mark of intelligence if they would 
make a law, like that in some countries, providing that no 
man could represent America unless he had a complete 
knowledge of the foreign tongue with which he would 
have to deal. 



T2 SIX MONTHS JN MEXICO, 

In my wanderings around the city I found a street on 
which til ere are no business houses or even pulque shops 
— nothing but coffin manufacturers. From one end of 
the street to the other you see in every door men and 
boys making and painting all kinds and sizes of coffins. 
The dwelling houses are old and dilapidated, and the 
street narrow and dingy. Here the men work day after 
day, and never whistle, talk, or sing, as they go at their 
hewing, painting and glueing, with long faces, as if they 
were driving nails into their own coffins. 

I soon related my discovery to Joaquin Miller, and he 
went along to see it. Then he said, ^' Little Nell, you 
are a second Columbus. You have discovered a street 
that has no like in the world, and I have been over the 
world twice. It^s quite fine, isn't it?" and he gave a 
hearty laugh. Of course, there may be other streets 
somewhere just the same. We could find no name for 
our new treasure, so we simply dubbed it '^ Coffin Street." 
I am sorry I have no picture of it to send you, so yow. 
could see the coffins piled up to the ceiling; a little table 
in the center where the workman puts on the finishing 
touches, after which they are placed in rows against the 
building, by the sad-visaged and silent workers, to 
await a purchaser. Near this somber thoroughfare is an- 
other street where 
every other door is a 
shoe shop, the one 
between being a 
drinking- house. 
Many of the shoe- 
makers have their 
shops on the pave- 
ment, with a straw 
mat fastened on a 
pole to keep off the 
sun. Here he sits 
making new shoes 
and mending old 
ones until the sun goes down, when he lowers the pole, and 
taking off the straw mat, furnishes a bed for himself in 
some corner during the night. 

Wealthy Americans who have a desire to invest in land 
should come to Mexico, There is surely no other place 




^iX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



73 



in the world where qne conld get so much out of a piece 
of property. One end of a field can- be tilled while the 
other is being harvested, and one can have as many crops 
a year as he has energy and time to plant. There is no 
doubt that anything can be cultivated here. Of course, 
peaches and apples are not plenty, because they only grow 
wild. Why, even a nurseryman would fail to recognize 
them in the small, scraggy, untrimmed bushes. The na- 
tive fruits are fine, from the reason that they need no cul- 
tivating or trimming. 
If they did, Mexico 
would have a famine 
in the fruit line. 

Land in Mexico is 
very cheap, and the 
Government collects a 
tax only on what is 
cultivated. One sen- 
sible man,by the name 
of Hale, came here 
from San Francisco a 
few weeks ago to buy 
property. A minister 
of the Gospel, a par- 
ticular friend of 
Hale^s, is authority 
for it that Senor Hale 
bought from the Gov- 
ernment sixty-five 
thousand square miles 
— 1 a r g e r than the 
whole of England, I 
believe— for 11,000,- 
000. 

I don't think one 
would ever tire of the gayly-colored pictures Mexico is 
ever presenting. Though in Mexico two months, I can 
find something new every time I glance at the queer peo- 
ple. This little basket vender is but one of thousands, 
but we find he is the first one to wear his white shirt with- 
out tying the two sides together in a knot in front. He 
must surely have forgotten that part of his toilet, as it is 
the universal style and custom among them all. Very 




74 SIX MONTHS IN MFjXICO. 

few Mexicans, even among the better class, wear sus- 
penders. They wrap themselves about the waist with a 
bright-colored scarf, with fringed ends, and this consti- 
tutes suspenders. Many of the better class wear embroid- 
ered and ruffled shirt fronts. 

The fruit venders have beautiful voices, and sing out 
their wares in such a charming manner that one is sorry 
when they disappear around the corner. They are 
sometimes quite picturesque with the fruit and vegeta- 
bles tied up in their rebozo and baskets in their hands. 
Why the women have all their skirts plain behind and 
pleated in front I cannot say, but such is invariably 
the case. The men have horrible voices when they are 
out selling. There never was anything to equal them. 
I wonder if our florists would not like to buy orchids 
from the man who passess our door every morning with 
about a hundred of them strung to a pole wliich is sus- 
pended from his shoulder, only two reals (twenty- five 
cents) for exquisite j^lants, with the rare ones but little 
higher. 

Mr. A. Sborigi, a Pittsburger, was in Mexico on a 
visit. When he landed in Vera Cruz he went into tlie 
country to see the place. Hearing music in a small 
cabin he drew nearer and recognized familiar tunes. 
"Wait till the clouds roll by," and Fritz^s lullaby. A 
man came out and invited him in, and after a short time 
he said he was a colored man, that his name was Jones, 
and he came from Pittsburg, Pa. He is married to an 
Indian woman and has about twenty children, ranging 
all sizes. Mr, Jones is king of the villa. In one room 
he lias a floor, a thing not possessed by any otlier in- 
habitant there, and his cabin is superior to all others. 
He is very proud of his wife and children, and has not 
the least desire to return to the Smoky City. He speaks 
Spanisli, French, and English fluently. 

When Mr. Sborigi was asked for his ticket on the Vera 
Cruz line, he jokingly handed the conductor an envelope 
that he had put in his pocket at ISTew Orleans. On it 
was printed in English, ''^ Tickets to all points of the 
world."" The conductor took the envelope, looked at it, 
punched it and returned it to the donor. Quite amused, 
Mr. Sborigi tried it on others, and he not only traveled 
the entire distance to Mexico, but traveled on at least 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 75 

half a dozen branch roads leading from the Vera Cruz 
line to beantiful towns in the country. He took the 
punched envelope back to Pittsburg as a memento of 
the cheapest journey he ever took. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

IK MEXICAK THEATEKS. 

Mexico does not know how a nation mourned for one 
Virginius like McCuUough; has never witnessed Barrett's 
Cassius and David Garrick, or been thrilled with O^jNTeill's 
Monte Cristo; has never looked on Mary Anderson's ex- 
quisite form and cold, unsympathetic acting; has missed 
Margaret Mather's insipid simper and Kate Castleton's 
fascinating wickedness; is wholly unconscious of Little 
Lotta's wondrous kick and Minnie Palmer's broadness; 
has never seen pretty Minnie Maddern's " In Spite of 
All/' and a mother of fifty odd years successfully trans- 
formed into a child of nine — Fanchon; is in blissful ig- 
norance of " Pinafore" and " Mikado/' and yet she lives 
and has theaters. 

The most fashionable theater in Mexico is the National. 
President Diaz always attends^ and of course the elite 
follow suit. It is well to say the president always at- 
tends, for there is little else to go to. Bull-fights, 
theaters, and driving are all the pleasures of Mexican 
life; the president gives no receptions or dinners, and 
entertains no Thursday or Saturday afternoon callers, so 
before death entered his family circle he was at the 
theater almost every night. 

ISTo paid advertising is done by theaters in the papers. 
Once in a while they, with the exception of the National, 
send around bills of their coming plays, accompanied by 
two tickets. For this they get a week's advertising; 
cheap rates, eh? Besides this they have native artists 
who select the most horrible scene to depict in water 
colors on cloth and hang' at the entrance; these "^ car- 
tels" are changed necessarily with every play, as bill- 
boards are in the States, and some of them are most 
ludicrous and horrible in the extreme. The Saturday I 
reached Mexico one of the theaters had on its boards a 
play, the cartel of which represented the crucifixion. 
What the play was could not be ascertained, 



76 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

Sunday is the most fashionable theater day. Every 
person who can possibly collect together enough money 
goes, from the poor, naked peon to the Spanish million- 
aire. On Monday all amusement houses are closed and 
many are only open every other day throughout the en- 
tire week; they are not at all particular about fulfilling 
engagements. A play may be billed for a certain night 
and on arrival there the servant will politely inform you 
it is postponed until mauana (to-morrow), and all you 
can do is to go back home and await their pleasure. 

The National Tiieater is a fine building with accommo- 
dations for 4,500 persons. The first entrance is a wide 
open space faced with mammoth pillars. Going up the 
steps you enter, through a heavily draped doorway, the 
vestibule or hall. Along the sides are racks where gen- 
tlemen and ladies deposit their wraps. The orchestra, or 
pit — the fashionable quarter in American theaters — is 
known as the *^ Lunetas.'^ The seats are straight-backed, 
leather-covered chairs of ancient shape and most uncom- 
fortable style. They were evidently fashioned more for 
durability than beauty, being made of very heavy, un- 
painted wood. ]N"arrow passageways intersect each other, 
and wooden benches are placed along the seats to serve as 
foot-rests. Down in front of the stage is the orchestra, 
flanked at either end by long benches running lengthwise 
of the stage. Boxes, six stories in height, look out upon 
the stage, and balconies circle the room. The balconies 
are divided into compartments holding eight persons. 
Common, straight chairs, with large mirrors on the door 
and walls, are the only f urnishment. The ^^ Lunetas " 
command seventy-five cents to $1.50; Palcos (boxes) 12 
a chair, and the Galeria (the sixth row of balconies) 
twenty-five cents. 

At 8.30 the orchestra strikes up, people come in and 
find their places, and about 9 o'clock the curtain goes up 
and silence reigns; the enthusiasm which is manifested 
at bull-fights is absent here. Everything is accepted and 
witnessed with an air of boredom and martyrdom that is 
quite pathetic. More time is spent gazing around at the 
audience than at the players. Everybody carries opera- 
glasses, and makes good use of them. 

Without doubt you would like to know how they dress; 
the men — who always come firsts you know — wear hand" 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 7? 

some suits, displaying immaculate shirt-front and collar 
that would make Eastern dudes turn green with enyy. 
Generally the suit is entirely black, yet some wear light 
pantaloons. High silk opera-hats and a large display of 
jewelry finish the handsome Spanish man. 

The ladies wear full dress, always light in color — pink, 
blue, pea green, white, etc. — trimmed with flowers, rib- 
bons or handsome laces. The hair is arranged artistic- 
cally, and the dresses are always cut very low, displaying 
neck aud arms such as only Mexican women possess. 
Very handsome combs and pins generally grace the hair. 
Young girls sometimes wear flowers, but it is considered 
better taste to wear the artificial article, because the real 
are so clieap, and the former, unsurpassed by nature, 
command very high prices. A Mexican woman would 
not be dressed without the expensive fan which she flits 
before her face with exquisite grace. The prevailing 
style is a point lace fan, which adds beauty to the face 
and, at the same time, does not hide it from beholders, 
for, let it be whispered, Mexican girls are fond of being 
looked at. A lady considers it the highest com]3liment 
she can receive for a man to stare at her for a long time, 
and the men come quite up to the point of being ex- 
tremely com|)limentary. 

The prompter's box is fixed in front of the stage, and 
his voice is not only heard continually above that of the 
actors, but his candle and hands are always visible, and 
he often takes time to peep out and take a survey of the 
audience; but the Mexicans do not notice him any more 
than the footlights, A bell, which sounds as heavy as a 
cliLirch bell, rings and the curtain falls. Well, it is a 
sight! The managers farm out the drop-curtain to busi- 
ness men by the square. The enterprising advertiser 
has painted on a piece of cloth his place of business and 
curious signs. One shows a man riding a fat pig, and 
from out the man's mouth comes the word ^'Carne-" 
(beef). How they make beef out of pork is unknown. 
Saloons take up the most prominent place. A house 
bearing the sign ''^ Pulque '' had the side knocked out, 
displaying a barrel v/hich filled the building from floor to 
roof. Cnpid was astride a barrel, sipping pulque from 
an immense schooner, forgetting in his enjoyment his 
usual occupation of softening other people's brains with 



78 SIX MONTHS IN 3IEXIC0. 

loYe's wine. One fat, bald-lieaded old fellow had gone 
to sleep with a generous smile on his open countenance, 
while from a large glass which he held in his hand the 
drink was running dowm his coat sleeve. Another fellow, 
equally fat and equally bald, was gazing at a full cham- 
pagne glass in drunken adoration. These are a few of the 
curious inducements for people to patronize certain stores. 
The signs are only pinned on, and as the curtain comes 
tumbling dow^n they fly, work and twist in the most com- 
ical style. 

Naturally the spectators would grow tired gazing at 
such a thing, so between acts the ladies visit one another, 
and the men rise in their seats, put on their hats, turn 
their backs to'ward the stage, and survey the people, Eng- 
lish fashion. They smoke their cigarettes, chat to one 
another, and discuss the women. The cow- bell rings 
again, people commence to embrace and kiss, and when 
the third bell rings, hats are off, cigarettes extinguished, 
and every one in place in time to see the curtain, after 
being dowai for thirty minutes, rise. 

Tlieaters close anywhere between 12.-o0 and three 
o^clock. The audience applaud very little, unless some 
one is murdered artistically. If a few feel like applaud- 
ing other fine points, they are quickly silenced by the 
thousands of hisses which issue from all quarters of the 
house, aud a Mexican hiss has no equal in the world. 
Ladies do not applaud, never look pleased or interested, 
but sit like so many statues, calmly and stupidly indiffer- 
ent. After the play every one who can afford it goes to 
some restaurant for refreshments. Mexicans are not eas- 
ily pleased with plays; and the only time they enjoy 
themselves is w^hen they have a ''Zarzuela^" — a cross be- 
tween a comic opera and a drama. Then they forget to 
hiss, and enter into the spirit of the play with as much 
vim as an American. 

Some Mexicans are quite famous as play-writers. 
When a new j)iece is ready for the boards a house is 
rented, and it is presented in fine style, the occasion 
being a sort of social gathering. Being invited, the 
other night, to attend one, I concluded to see what it 
was like. The author had one of his plays translated 
into Engiish--the name now forgotten — which has met 
with great Buccess iu the States. I thought this would 



^TJt MONTHS IN MEXICO. % 

be endurable. As I entered with some ladies an usber 
in full dress and white kid gloves presented each of us 
with beautiful bouquets, and offering his arm to the 
ladies, escorted the party to the box with the air and 
manner of a prince. Once in the box, he gave us little 
programmes, went out, and locked the door. Interested, 
I watched the people as they came in and arranged them- 
selves comfortably. Much amused and even disconcerted 
we were when we found hundreds of glasses turned our 
way and held there long and steadily, as they saw we 
were '^greengoes,^^ or foreigners, and with feminine 
timidity we thanked our lucky stars we had ventured 
forth without a bonnet — as no woman ever wears a hat 
to the theater here — so that the difference would not 
have been more pronounced. 

At last the curtain went up, and before the actress, 
who was sitting on a chair, crying, could issue one blub- 
ber, dozens of bouquets were linng at her feet. Not un- 
derstanding the words the play seemed most absurd. 
Apparently the girl could not marry her lover because 
her mother had forbidden it, as another siste;* loved the 
same man, and as he did not reciprocate she was dying; 
the dying sister ajopeared but once, then in a nightdress, 
and soon afterward screamed heartily behind the scenes 
and was pronounced dead by the actors. The men and 
women cried continuously all the evening, and' Americans 
dubbed the play "The Pocket-Handkerchief.'' Once, 
when the lover told his sweetheart he was going out to 
fight a duel with a dude with a big eyeglass, who had 
loved the dead girl, she fainted on his breast and he held 
her there, staggering beneath her weight, while he de- 
livered a fifteen-minute eulogy. As she was about two 
feet taller and twice as heavy as he, the scene v/as most 
comical, particularly when she tried to double up to reach 
his shoulder, and forgot she had fainted and moved her 
hands repeatedly. But smothering our American mirth 
we looked on in sympathy. How it ended I cannot 
tell, for at 2 o^clock I started for home and the play- 
ers were then weeping with as much vigor as when the 
curtain first rose. 

The carvings and finishing of the N"ational Theater are 
superb. It is surpasssed by few in the States, but the 
walls are smeared and dirty— no curtains deck the boxes^ 



85 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

uncomfortable chairs are alone procurable, and, all in 
all, the house is about as filthy as one can find in Mexico. 
It is rumored that Sarah Bernhardt is to come to Mexico 
next December with a French troupe, and as French is 
as common as Spanish here, she will doubtless have large 
houses. It is to be hoped the managers will awaken to 
the fact that the house needs a scrubbing down and 
fumigating before that time. 

As stated before, young men do not need to keep back 
their washerwoman's money to be able to take their best 
girl to the theater. A gentlemen and lady are never 
seen alone; even husband and wife, if they have no 
friends, take a servant along. 

Mexico supports a circus all winter. They have an 
amphitheater built for the purpose, and it is the best 
lighted and cleanest spot in the city. It is open after- 
noons and evenings, except Monday. The seats are ar- 
ranged theater-like— pit, boxes and balconies. Some 
very good performing is done, but Spanish jokes by the 
clowns and very daring feats on horseback are the only 
acts which gain applause from the Mexicans. The men- 
agerie, for which they charge twenty-five cents extra, is 
not well attended, as the people can see more in the 
museum for nothing, and they prefer the beasts stuffed, 
to being stuffed themselves or stuffing another man's 
purse for the sight of a lion, monkey and striped don- 
key. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE FLOATIK"G GARDEN'S. 

Oe course, everybody has heard of the famous floating 
gardens of Mexico, and naturally when one reaches this 
lovely clime their first desire is to go up to La Viga. I 
w^anted to visit the gardens, and with a friend, who put 
up a nice lunch, started out to spend the day on the 
water. The sun was just peeping over the hilltops when 
we took a car marked " La Viga,"'' and off we went. We 
spent the time translating signs and looking at the queer 
things to be seen. The oddest sight was the slaughter 
shop. The stone building looked like a fortress. Around 
the entrance were hundreds of worn-out mules and horses, 
on which men were hanging meat. They had one wagon, 



SIX MONTR'S IN MEXICO. 



81 



Ibut tlie meat;, after rubbing the bony sides of the beasts, 
was just as palatable as when hauled in it. It was built 
like a chicken coop, and elevated on two large wheels. 
On each side of the coop and lying in a large heap on the 
bottom, was the meat. Astride the pile sat a half-clad, 
fellow, and in front, on the outside, sat the '^ bloody^' 
driver. Trudging along in a string of about forty were 
men with baskets filled with the refuse, from which the 
blood ran in little rivers, until they looked as if they had 
actually bathed in gore. We were glad when our car 
passed, and had no appetite for the lunch in our basket. 
When the car reached its destination we alighted, and 
were instantly surrounded with boatman, neatly clad in 
suits consisting of white linen blouse and pants. Every- 
one clamored for us to try his boat, and the crowd was 
so dense that it was impossible to move. As there is no 
regular price, \ve had to make a bargain, so we selected 
a strong, brown fellow^ who, although he pressed close 
up to us, had not 



uttered a word while 
the rest had been 
dwelling on the 
merits of their 
boats. We went 
with him to the 
edge of the canal 
and looked at his 
little flat, covered 
with a tin roof. 
White linen kept 
out the sun at the 
sides, and pink 
calico, edged with 
red and green 
fringe, covered the 
seats. The bottom 
was scrubbed very 
white and the Mexi- 
can colors floated 
from the pole at the 
dollars,"' he answered. 




end. We asked his price. ^' Six 
'" JSTo,"' we said; '" it's too much.'' 
After more debating and deliberating he set his price at 
one dollar, which we accepted. 



8B SIX 3iONTHS IN 3IEXtO0. 

Sunday is market day, and La Yiga was consequently 
the prettiest sight we had yet seen in Mexico. It was 
completely filled with boats containing produce. Some 
were packed full of fresh vegetables, some contained 
gay colored birds, which the Indians trap in the mount- 
ains and bring to market here, and others were a mass 
of exquisite flowers. While the man piloted his boat 
over the glassy waters, the ever busy Avoman wove 
wreaths and made bouquets from the stock before her. 
Such roses! I can yet inhale their perfume, and how 
they recalled kind friends at home. Daisies, honey- 
suckles, batchelor buttons, in variety unknown in the 
States. And the poppies! Surely no other spot on earth 
brings forth such a variety of shade, color, and size. 
They are even finer than the peonies of the States. 

But this boatful has passed only to bring others, ever 
the same, yet always new. They look at us with a joleas- 
ant smile, and we answer their cheerful salutes with a 
happy feeling. Along the banks we see people decorating 
their straw huts with along plant, Avhicli contains yellow 
and red flowers. They plait it at the top in diamond 
shape, and. not only put it on their homes, but use it to 
decorate the pulque shops and stretch across streets. The 
most disagreeable sight was the butcher at work. Every 
hero and there along the shore a^e large copper kettles 
filled with boiling water. One man held a little brown 
pig down with his knee and cut its throat, while another 
held a small bowl in which he caught the blood. Still 
further up we saw the first work completed, and on sticks, 
put in the ground around a large charcoal fire, were the 
different pieces roasting. The flies were as thick as bum- 
blebees in a field of clover, and v/e realized for the first 
time that summer, with all its pests, as well as its glories, 
was on our heels. 

Wash day, like everything else in the labor line here, 
comes on Sunday. Under the drooping willows were 
crowds of men, women, and children. The men were 
nursing the babies and smoking the pipe of peace, while 
the women were washing their clothes. They were not 
dressed in the height of fashion; they were in extreme 
full dress — a little more so than that of the fashionable 
lady of the period, for none of them possess more than 
one shirt, and they have no bed to go to while that is 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 83 

being washed; so they bask in the warm rays of the sun. 
The nude children pLay in the dark waters of La Viga 
like so many sportive lambs on a green lawn, while the 
ever-faithful, industrious wife and mother washes the 
clothes on a porous stone and dries them on the banks- 
happy, cheerful, and as contented as though she were a 
queen. 

I think I have stated before that Mexico cannot be en- 
tered except through its city gates, which are not only 
gaarded bv soldiers, but also a customs officer, who in- 
spects all the things brought in by the poor peons and 
puts a high duty on them. A poor man and woman 
may travel for days with their coops filled with chickens, 
Day duty on them and have but a few cents extra for all 
that labor and travek Could one blame them then if 
they were lazy and live on what nature grows for them 
without cultivation? They are not lazy, but their bur- 
den will not be lightened until this outrageous taxation, 
which goes to line the pockets of some individual, is re- 
moved. Even on La Viga they have the customs gate to 
pass. The officer examines everything, and not only 
charges the price, but always takes from the load what- 
ever he wishes gratis. In one day^s collection he not only 
has enough to run a hotel but has plenty left to sell. 
When a boat is packed with vegetables a loug steel prong 
is run through them to make sure there is nothing be- 
neath. 

La Viga is from six to twelve feet deep, and about 
thirty feet wide. On either side it is lined with willow 
and silver maple trees. It starts from Lake Tezcuco, 
about eight miles from the city, forms a ring, and goes 
back to the same source. The floating gardens, so called, 
are found just above the Custom House. From the name 
we naturallv expected to see some kind of a garden float- 
ing on the'water; but we did not. ^^ Boatman, where 
are the floating gardens?'' 

'' There, senorita," he answered. 

^^What, that solid, dry land?" 

''No, senorita. With your permission we will take a 
canoe and go in among them." 

'' Con mucho gusto," we replied with Harry's so-called 
''greaser talk," and getting into a little dugout we were 



84 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

pushed, at the risk of being beheaded, under a low stone 
bridge by our boatman, who waded in the water. We 
saluted the owners of a little castle built of cane and 
roofed with straw and went on, impatient to see the gar- 
dens. 

In blocks of fifteen by thirty feet nestle the gardens 
surrounded by water and rising two feet above its surface. 
The ground is fertile and rich and will grow anything. 
Some have fruit trees, others vegetables and some look 
like one bed of flowers suspended in the water.. Around 
in the little canals through which we drifted, were hun- 
dreds of elegant water-lilies. Eagerly we gathered them 
with a desire which seemed never to be satisfied, and even 
when our boat was full we still clutched ones which 
were " the prettiest yet.''^ 

On some gardens were cattle and horses, sheep and 
pigs, all of them tied to trees to save them from falling 
into the water. Tlie quaint little homes were some of 
the prettiest features; they were surrounded by trees and 
flowers, and many of them had exquisite little summer 
houses, built also of cane, which commanded a view of 
the gardens. The hedges or walls were made of roses, 
which were all in bloom, sending forth a perfume that 
was entrancing. The gardeners water their plots every 
day. On the end of a long pole they fasten a dipper, 
and with it they dip up water and fling it over their veg- 
etables in quite a deft and speedy manner. IS^o, the 
gardens do not float, but a visit to them fully repays one 
for their disappointment in finding that they are station- 
ary. 

Undoubtedly many years ago these same gardens did 
really float. History says they were built of weeds, cano 
and roots, and banked up with earth. The Aztecs had 
not only their gardens on them, but their little homes, 
and they poled them around whenever they wished. Old 
age, and perhaps rheumatism, has stiffened their joints 
and they are now and forever more stationary. Joaquin 
Miller said: ^' ISTow, I^ellie, the gardens do not float, 
but please do not spoil the pretty belief by telling the 
truth about them.^^ But either our respect for the truth 
or a desire to do just the opposite to what others wish, 
has made us tell just what the floating gardens really are, 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 85 

At the very least tliey repay one's trouble for the jour- 
ney. 

As it was about the hour for breakfast, we opened our 
basket and found one dozen hard-boiled eggs, two loaves 
of bread, plenty of cold chicken and meat, fruit and 
many other things equally good and bad for the inner ty- 
rant, and last, but not least, a dozen bottles of beer. 
That is not horrible, because no one drinks water here, 
as it is very impure, and two or three glasses have often 
produced fever. Of course, I could have delicately 
avoided the beer bottles (in my articles I mean), but I 
could not resist relating the funny incident connected 
with them for the benefit of others. One of the party 
was a strict temperance advocate, and when the bottles 
were opened the- beer was found to be sour, as it is a 
most difficult place to try to preserve bottled goods. We 
immediately refused to drink it, but the T. A. said he 
would test it, so we gave him a glass, which he drained. 
We were amused, but courteously restrained our smiles; 
but as bottle after bottle was opened, and the T. A. in- 
sisted on testing each one, our mirth got the best of us, 
and I burst out laughing, joined heartily by the rest. 
We fed our boatman, and I never enjoyed anything so 
much in all my life. His hearty thanks, his good appe- 
tite, his humble, thankful words between mouthfuls, did 
me a world of good. The sour beer which was left by 
the T. A. we gave him, and it is safe to say that the 
best of drinks never tasted as good as that to our poor 
boatman. 

On the gardens they have jDut up wooden crosses and 
tied a cotton cloth to them; they are believed to be a 
preventive of storms visiting the land, as the wind, after 
playing with the cotton cloth, is afterwaj'd unable to 
blow strong enough to destroy anything. When we 
anchored at one of the villages, some men came down 
and asked us to come to their houses to eat. Each told 
of the good things his wife had prepared, and one, as 
an inducement, said, ^^I have a table in my house. ''^ 
That, of course, is a big thing here, as not one Indian in 
one hundred owns a table or chair. JPulque is sold very 
cheap at these villages, and many of the Mexicans come 
up in boats or on horseback to treat themselves. Along- 
each side of La Viga are beautiful paseos, bordered by 



86 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO.] 

large shade trees. They form some of the many and 
most beautiful drives in Mexico; and on Sunday the 
paseos are filled with crowds of ladies and gentlemen on 
horseback. It is also one of the favorite places for rac- 
ing, and any one who is fond of fine riding will have a 
chance to see it here. Two young fellows took from off 
the horses the saddles and bridles, then, removing their 
coats and hats, they rode a mile race on the bare horses. 
Large bets were made on it, and every one enjoyed the 
exhibition. 

In the afternoon we turned' our boat toward the city, 
followed by a boat containing a family. The father and 
largest son were doing the poling, and the mother was 
bathing her babes. She rubbed them with soap, and 
then, leaning over the edge of the boat, doused them up 
and down in the water. After she had finished and 
dressed them in the clothes which had in the meanwhile 
been drying in the boat, she washed her face and hair, 
combed it with a scrub-brush, and let it hang loose over 
her back to dry on the way to town. When we repassed 
the wash-house encountered going up, we were surprised 
to see it nearly deserted and the few remaining ones don- 
ning their clean linen, getting into their canoes and pad- 
dling around the canal. When we reached Santa Anita, 
a village of strav mansions, we found they were celebrat- 
ing an annual feast-day, and that the town was not only 
crowded with guests, but La Viga was almost impassable 
for boats. On this special day it is the custom for every- 
body to wear wreaths of poppies. The flower-women, 
seated in the middle of the street, were selling them as 
fast as they could hand them out. 

From a stand a brass band was sending forth its lovely 
strains, and beneath were the people dancing. They have 
no square dances or waltzes, but the dance is similar to 
an Irish reel — without touching one another, and merely 
balancing back, forth and sideways. Pulque was flowing 
as freely as ]S[iagara Falls, and for the first time we real- 
ized what " dead drunk ^' meant. One woman was over- 
come, and had been drawn out of La Viga, into which she 
had fallen. She lay on the bank, wet, muddy, covered 
with flies, face down on the earth, with no more life than 
a corpse. She was reaJly paralyzed. 

After we tired of watching theni we continued our 



SIX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. SI 

journey, onr boatman wending his way deftly between tlie 
crowds of otliers who were making tlieir way to the feast. 
They all greeted us and said, many pretty things, because 
I had put on a wreath. They considered I had honored 
them. Nearly every boat had one or more guitars, and 
the singing and music added a finishing touch to the al- 
ready beautiful and interesting scene. About 200 
mounted and unmounted soldiers had gone out to keep 
the peace, but they entered into the spirit of the thing as 
much as the others, and doubtless would consume just as 
much pulque before midnight. Hailing amassing carriage, 
as we landed, we drove to our house, jotting down the 
day spent on La Viga as one of the most pleasant of our 
delightful sojourn in this heavenly land. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC. 

"Whek Maximilian first established his royal presence in 
Mexico he began to do what he could toward beautifying 
this picturesque valley. The city had been rebuilt on 
the old Aztec site — the lowest and worst spot in the land. 
Maximilian concluded to draw the city toward a better 
locality. In order to do this he selected Chapultopec as 
the place for his castle, and built lovely drives running 
from all directions to the site of his residence. The 
drives are wide, bordered with tall trees, and form one 
of the prettiest features in Mexico. The most direct 
drive from the city is the paseo, spoken of in a former 
letter as the drive for the fashionable. Maximilian in- 
tended his home should be the center of the new Mexico, 
and the paseo — "Boulevard of the Emperor '' — was to 
lead to the gate of his park. Erom the Alameda to 
Ohapultepec the distance is 5450 yards, with a width of 
170 feet. The paseo contains six circular plots, which 
Maximilian intended should contain statues. Strange 
to say this plan is partly being executed. Some already 
contain an equestrian statue of Charles IV., claimed to 
be second only to one other in the world; a magnificent 
bronze statue of Columbus, and they are erecting one 
to Guatemoc and one to Cortes. On either side of 
the paseo are grand old aqueducts, leaky and moss-cov- 



88 SIX 3tONTHS IN MEXICO. 

ered, tlie one ending at the castle, the other going 
further up into the mountains. One is said to be nine 
miles in length. These aqueducts hold very beautiful 
carved pieces and niches, every here and there, in which 
are placed images of the Virgin. 

Terminating the avenue rises the castle, on a rocky hill 
some hundred feet high. The castle covers the entire 
tojD and stands like a guard to the entire valley. Many 
hundred years ago the King of the Aztec Indians had 
this for his favorite palace. Here he ruled, beloved by 
all, until the white-faced stranger invaded his land, out- 
raged his hospitality and trust; stole his gold and jewels 
and replaced them with glass beads; tore down his gods 
and replaced them with a new; butchered his people, 
and not only made him an imbecile, but caused him to 
die at the hands of his once loving subjects the despised 
of all the x)eople. Poor Montezuma! the wisest, best 
and most honorable King of his time, after all his good- 
ness, his striving for the light of learning, to die such a 
death. 

Since Montezuma wandered beneath the shades of 
Chapultepec — ''Hill of the Grasshopper^' — it has been 
the chosen resort of the successive rulers of Mexico — the 
theme of poets, the dream of artists ahd the admiration 
of all beholders. A massive iron gate, guarded over by 
dozens of sentinels, admits you to a forest of cypress 
which excels anything on this continent. The grand old. 
trees, many centuries old, are made the more beautiful 
by the heavy dress of gray moss which drapes the limbs. 
The broad carriage road, to which the sun never pene- 
trates, and where the beautiful, shadowy twilight ever 
rests, winds around and around until it gains the sum- 
mit. The old bath of Montezuma stands a lovely ruin in 
this lovely grove; above it is built an engine house for the 
waterworks, which are to supply the city instead of the 
aqueduct. With regret we gazed on it, the only blot on 
the otherwise perfect paradise, and wished that some one, 
with the taste of Maximilian, had interfered before this 
mark of progress had been decided upon. 

The silvery lake, alive with geese and ducks, and Dor- 
dered with lilies of the Nile and other beautiful flowers, 
nestles like a birdling in the heart of the greensward. 
The fountains play and sing their everlasting song, while 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 89 

birds of exquisite colors miugle their sweet melodies with 
the tinkle of the falling waters. Plots of flowers vie 
witii each other to pat forth the most beautiful colors; 
all nature seems to be doing its utmost to show its grati- 
tude for being assigned to this beautiful spot. Far back 
in the forest, is a smooth, level place, where moonlight 
picnics are often held. The soft drapery of Spanish 
moss hangs low, yet high enough not to interfere with 
the headgear. Beneath its shadows one would fain for- 
get the world. We no longer wonder at the '^ mauana " 
of the natives, and can clearly see why they wish to live 
as slow and as long as possible. 

When Montezuma reigned supreme he was accustomed 
to gather together his wise men, and while sitting be- 
neath the shade of a monstrous cypress they would dis- 
cuss the topics of the day. For this reason the tree is 
named '' The Tree of Montezuma.^' It is said to be two 
hundred feet high and sixty feet in circumference. It 
is heavily draped with moss, and is the most magnificent 
monument any king could have. 

Half way up the hill is an entrance, almost hidden by 
moss and other creeping foliage, which leads into a cave^ 
The first chamber is a very large room hewn out of the 
solid rock. At the opposite side is an iron door, barring 
the way to the cave proper. Many different stories are 
told of it. One is that the cave was here before the 
time of Montezuma, and that untold wealth has been 
hidden in its unexplored recesses when different tribes 
went to war. Another says that when Oortes was forced 
to leave he buried his ill-gotten wealth in its darkened 
depths. The less romantic story is that the subterranean 
sally-port, which leads down from the garden on the roof 
of the castle, opens into the cave; they once tried to ex- 
plore it, and found within a mammoth hole. A rock 
thrown in was not heard to strike the bottom, and even 
the bravest feared to go further. The rocks on the hill 
are covered with hieroglyphics, which archaeologists have 
not succeeded in translating; the brick fence around the 
winding driv^ has passed its day of beauty, and the posts 
alone remain of the lamps which once lighted Maximil- 
ian's pathway. 

Having obtained a ticket of admission to the castlQ 



00 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

from the governor of tlie National Palace, we took a 
party of tourists with us and proceeded to investigate. 

When we had mount- 
-^^§«»s*fl ed the hill and walked 

l^^^&^^^^&^fe^into the yard, the 
^^'$^M^'"^^^-^^fi^^MMP'^^^^^^^^\ u-fiifoi'nied sentinel 
"lir^^-^I^^^S^^MS^P^M called out something 
^^^ ^^^^^^^ m Spanish, loud and 

long, and a drummer boy quite near beat a hasty roll. 
*'Tkey must think we intend to storm the castle,^' said 
one of the ladies in evident alarm, but her fears were 
quieted when a young cadet came from the building and 
offered to show us around. '' Can you speak English?^' 

1 inquired. '' 'Eo, I will find some one,^"* he answered in 
Spanish, and off he went. However, we lost no time 
waiting for his return, but went to the door of the castle 
and handed our pass to the guard. '' Memento," he 
said, and he also disappeared, but only to come back ac- 
companied by a handsome, middle-aged officer, who told 
us, in broken English, our pass was good, and wliile the 
guard would tiike us through the castle he would get us 
another escort for the rest. 

The castle is being renovated for a Mexican White 
House. A K"ew York firm is to finish it at a cost of one 
hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars. Our disap- 
pointment increased as we roamed through room after 
room to find all mementos of Maximilian and Carlotta 
destroyed. Even what had been their bedchamber was 
a total ruin. The only things that remain are three 
poor pictures on the wall facing the garden. They had 
been spoiled, and before many hours the last thing to re- 
Ccill the murdered emperor and the blighted empress 
would be totally effaced. President Diaz is to move here 
when the repairs are finished; but if they are no faster 
with the work in the future than they have been in the 
past, what they have begun will be old-fashioned before 
the rest is completed, and Mexico will have added two or 
three more names to its list of presidents. 

On top of the castle is a beautiful garden, full of rare 
plants and handsome trees and shrubbery. Fountains 
are plenty, and statues of bronze and marble are strewn 
around in profusion. The stairway is made of imported 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 91 

Italian marble, and the balconies of alternate blocks of 
Italian and Puebla marble. The effect is superb. The 
famous sally-port leads down through the castle from the 
center of the garden. It is fenced in around the mouth 
with a brass railing and covered with green vines. Mag- 
nificent aquariums divide the flowers at intervals, and 
the little gold and silver fish play about in the water as 
if life was all joy. When one looks around the beautiful 
landscape, the romance of the historic past fades before 
the grand reality of the present. From this majestic spot 
one commands a view of the entire valley— -the soft, green 
meadows, the avenues of proud trees which outline the 
gray roads that always fade away at the foot of the chain 
of mountains which encircle the valley like a monstrous 
wall. The faint blue and purple lines of the mountains 
appear small and insignificant when the gaze wanders to 
those two incomparable beauties, Popocatapetl and Ix- 
taccihnatl. All nature seems a prayer. Grand old Popo- 
catapetl stands with its white, snowy head at the feet of 
the White Lady. Perhaps nature has assumed this tran- 
quilness while awaiting the old, white-headed man to say 
the last sad words over that beautiful still form. 

At the back of the castle is the Military Academy, or 
West Point of Mexico. Three hundred cadets, with their 
officers, are housed here. The school is kept in the best 
of order, and when the cadets finish their seven years' 
course they are well prepared for future duties. The 
cadets belong to the best families and number a lot of 
handsome men. The stairway which divides, or rather 
connects, the two buildings is an odd yet pretty struct- 
ure. It is built in an arch to the height of ten feet. 
Then starting out in opposite directions are two other 
arches, which connect the buildings. These arches — the 
stairway, of course — have no supports whatever, and one 
is almost afraid they may cave in with their weight. 
When they were finished some one remarked to the 
builder, " They will fall down if one man mounts them.'' 
'* Bring a regiment and put on them, and I guarantee 
they stand," replied the builder. This was done, and 
they were found to be as firm as a mountain. They are 
certainly one of the prettiest pieces of architectural work 
ever executed. 

In the library of the academy are oil paintings of the 



92 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 

cadets who fell in defense of Chapultepec. They were 
handsome young boys, and a fine marble shaft, inclosed 
with an iron fence at the foot of the hill, is erected in 
commemoration of their heroic deed. The prettiest boy 
of the lot, with sunny locks and blue eyes, folded the 
flag, for which he was fighting, to his breast, and stood 
with a smile on his face while his enemies cut him into 
pieces. He was but thirteen years old. His picture oc- 
cupies a prominent place, and beneath it stands the flag, 
dyed a dark crimson with his hearths blood. The cadets 
keep those little heroes^ memories green. Every morn- 
ing they place wreaths of flowers on the monument as 
they march on their way to the meadows below to drill. 
The cadets have two queer pets, a wild pig and a 
monkey. The latter is their companion. He performs 
in the gymnasium with them, and does some wonderful 
feats. He is truly a smart, cunning little fellow, and 
exhibits much intelligence. He is fond of the boys, and 
the boys return his affection. AYhen they come to town 
on Sundays they never forget to take some sweetmeats 
back for him; and he never forgets to expect the treat, 
and he gets very loving and confidential about that time. 
He hugs the returned youth, and pr3^s into his pockets 
with as much enthusiasm as though he had been absent 
for months. Every cadet has a bed with his name, num- 
ber, etc., on it. A combination desk and wardrobe 
stands by the side, and in the bottom is a tin pan. At 
5.30 they arise, and when the order is given they take 
up their tin pans and march out to the side of the build- 
ing. Erom a large basin tliey take the water, and plac- 
ing their pans on a stone bench many yards long they 
wash themselves. On Sundays they can go to bull-fights, 
to town to see their relatives, or do anything they wish, 
unless they have neglected their studies the week before, 
when they are kept at school for punishment. They are 
taught Erench, Spanish, Greek, and English. They are 
extremely polite, and have not the least objection to 
flirting. Though they are short in stature they have 
good forms and are splendid horsemen. In fact, they 
are the beau ideal of any girl who likes embroidered uni- 
forms and brass buttons, topped off with that cavalier 
style no female can resist. 



^IX MONTHS M MEXICO, 93 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE FEASTS OF THE GAMBLERS. 

The Mexicans, as a people, have an inordinate passion 
for gambling. They gamble on everything. Poor peons 
have been know , when tlieir money was gone, to take 
the rags off their backs and pawn them in order to get a 
few cents to lose. Men possessing thousands have gone 
into houses at night to be hauled away in the morning a 
corpse, without a dollar to pay funeral expenses. Gam- 
bling reached such a stage that the government saw it 
must interfere. Consequently they prohibited all street 
gambling and started lotteries, in which prizes are drawn 
every otiier day. The main prizes range from $500 to 
15,000. Crippled, blind, aged, poverty-stricken men 
and women are on the streets at all hours selling num- 
bered strips of tissue paper marked " Lottery.^' The 
seller wears a brass badge in the shape of a half-moon as 
proof that he or she is employed by the government. No 
trouble is experienced in selling the tickets, as everybody 
buys, foreigners as well as Mexicans. The tickets range 
from twelve cents to twenty-five dollars. When the 
drawing is held a printed list showing the fortunate 
numbers is posted in the court. People of all nationali- 
ties and in all stages of dress crowd around the notice. 
Many turn away unhappy, while some few smile over 
their gains. It is said the proceeds are devoted to useful 
and charitable works. The income, at any rate, must be 
a princely one. 

Gambling houses are also run on a large scale. They 
are licensed by the government. Once every year, in tlie 
month of February, gamblers procure a license and open 
houses at Tacubaya. During these four weeks all are al- 
lowed to gamble here in any style they wish. This 
chance picnic is called '* the feast of the gamblers." At 
three o'clock every afternoon ladies in carriages, men on 
horseback, the poor in the street cars, all bound for the 
one destination — ^Tacubaya — present a beautiful sight. 
From the energy displayed, the hurry to pass one an- 
other, the evident desire to get there first, one would 
think it the first holiday they had had for years, and all 
were determined to get the most out of it! 



94 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

To roach the scene the tourist must take a two-mile 
drive along a wide road, bordered on either side with trees 
of luxurious growth and shade, beneath which beautiful, 
pure-white calla lilies and scarlet-red geraniums lift their 
pretty heads in the perfect ahandon of liaturalness and 
liberty. Dotted here and there over the lovely valley are 
green fields, adobe hu^s, and whitewashed churches, with 
superb Chapultepec ever in view, as a crown or guard 
to the vast valley beneath. The gates of Chapultepec, 
with its sentinels and mounted guards, are passed, and in 
a few minutes more we are in Tacubaya. 

'MVe will have to alight liere," said our guide. 
''The streets are so full it is impossible to drive 
through. ^^ 

Impossible to drive; it was almost impossible to walk. 
As we stepped from the carriage several peons, who had 
come to meet us, knelt on the ground and spread out 
their scrapes before them, displaying a few silver dollars, 
big copper one and two cent pieces and three cards; the 
cards were deftly crossed, face downward, one after an- 
other, with astonishing rapidity, while the ''tosser '"M^ept 
singingoiit some unintelligible stuff, apparently, •'Which 
will you bet on?" Quickly a peon steps forward and lays 
a $10 bill on one card. The ''tosser^' shuffles again, the 
man wins and puts many silver dollars in his pocket. This 
excites the watching crowd, which presses forward, and 
many "women and men lay down their money on certain 
cards, only to see it go into the pile of the '' tosser." 
One failure does not discourage them, but they try as 
long as their money lasts, for it is impossible to win. 
The '' tosser ^Mias one or two accomplices who win the 
first money to excite the crowd or again to increase their 
waning energy. 

The '^tosser'^ and his accomplices will follow Ameri- 
cans, or ''greenoes,^' as they call us, for squares. When 
you pause they prostrate themselves before you; the stool- 
pigeon always wins and tries to induce the stranger to 
play — even pinches off the corner of the card, saying ''It 
will win; bet on it;" "Senor, try your hand." " Senor- 
ita, you will be lucky," whispers the accomplice as he 
gazes at you in the most solemn manner. Wild-eyed 
women, who smell strongly of pulque, with disheveled 
hair and dirty clothes, beg for money to try their luck. 



SIX 310NTHS IN MEXICO. 95 

Each side of the street is filled witli tents. In the 
center and along the houses are women squatted on the 
ground nursing their babies and selling their wares, which 
consist of everything ugl}^ Some build little charcoal 
fires, above it suspend a flat pan, and on it fry some sort 
of horrible cakes and red pepper, which are sold to the 
gamblers. At the foot of a large tree sat an ugly, dirty 
woman. From a big earthen jar by her side she dealt 
out pulque to the thirsty people; the jar was replenished 
repeatedly from filled pig skins. At another place to- 
matoes and salad were laid out in little piles on the 
ground. A little naked babe lay asleep on a piece of 
matting, and a woman was busy at the head of another^ 
not reading her bumps, but taking the living oS the liv- 
ing—and she did not have to hunt hard either. Similar 
scenes repeated themselves until one longed for something 

new. 

The restaurants were numerous. A piece of matting 
spread on the ground constituted the tables, with the 
exception of three old wrecks that could hardly stand. 
Cups of all shapes, but none whole, lay claim to being 
the only dishes in sight. Large clay jars, tm boilers, 
etc., were the coffee urns. 

Among all the mob that gathers here, a fight is an 
unheard-of thing. " It is old California repeated," said 
Joaquin Miller, ^^with the rough people left out.'' 
Kough, in a certain sense, they are, and ignorant, yet far 
surpassing the same class of people in the States; they 
possess a never-failing kindness and gentleness for one 
another; the police carried one woman who was paralyzed 
from pulque as tenderly as if she were their mother, 
while a sympathizing crowd followed; two peons sup- 
ported between them a pulque victim, who was so happy- 
that his spirits found vent in trying to sing a hiccough 
song. Another neon, only half sober, got his drunken 
companion on his back and trudged off, in a wavering 
manner, for his home. 

In the tents along the street a second class of people 
gamble. Some tables have painted on them three 
faces — a red one, with a white and green one on either 
side— on which the men gamble. Musicians with string 
instruments furnish pleasing airs, and women in pictur- 
es'pe costumes do the singing and dancing. The most 



96 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

popular song is ^^I am a pure Mexican, no Spanish blood 
in me," The people scorn the idea of Spanish blood, and 
boast of being of pure Indian descent. 

Over the top of high walls peep the green trees, and the 
vines crawl over, hanging low down on the outside. 
Enter the vine-draped gateway and you will see a garden 
as fine as any city park. A smootli walk leads to all sorts 
of cunning little nooks; large trees spread out tlieir heavy 
arms; the perfume of thousands of beautiful flowers 
scents the air; playing fountains mingle their music with 
the exquisite melody of the string bands placed at inter- 
vals throughout the grounds; statues glisten against the 
green foliage; well-dressed men and finely clad women 
are visible on every spot — everything animate and in- 
animate adds to the picturesqueness of the beautiful 
scene. 

In the buildings, which are decorated outside with 
pictures from happy scenes in life, are tables and chairs, 
the walls being hung with fine paintings and expensive 
mirrors. On the green table-cloth is placed $10,000 and 
120,000 — the former sum on the roulette table, the latter 
on the card board. The money is half gold and half silver. 
Before the hour of playing these tables are left unguarded; 
people go in and out at pleasure, but all are too honorable 
to take one piece. Ladies and gentlemen sit or stand 
around, smoking their cigarettes and betting. One 
woman lost $500 in a few moments, but her face never 
changed. A man stood at a roulette table, and, com- 
mencing with $10, Avas in a short time the possessor of 
$750. He never changed countenance, and after getting 
the ^^pot" together he exchanged it for greenbacks and 
walked off. Any one playing can order what they wish 
to drink at the expense of the proprietor. Fine res- 
taurants are also run in connection with the establish- 
ment. 

One gambling hall is hung with Spanish moss in the 
shape of a tent, which reflects in the mirrors forming 
the walls. It is beautiful and reminds one forcibly of 
what fairyland is supposed to be. Every large house has 
a notice posted informing patrons that they furnish, 
free of charge, conveyances for the city at late hours. 
One man almost broke the bank and had to get a wagon 
to haul his money to Mexico. Others won $5000; $10,- 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 97 

000 and 120,000, but notwithstanding this one house 
made 1200,000 the first ten days. Electric lights enable 
the players to keep the game up all night, and unique 
torches furnish just enough light in the gardens to show 
the way and fascinate the sentimental. 

Tired at last, we wandered forth and visited the beau- 
tiful old cathedral which all Mexican towns possess, 
walked through several plazas and examined ,the fine 
fountains, flowers and monuments, and at last traveled to 
the top of the hill in order to view the country around 
about. Seated on the eight-foot bank of the military 
road, we watched the Indians going to and from the city. 
First came a drove of burros walking quite briskly, as if 
they feared the load left behind might catch up and in- 
sist again on being carried. A number of women 
wrapped up in a straight piece of flannel and a piece on 
their heads in the style of tlie peasant girl in the " Mas- 
cot, '' passed by. On their back were huge bundles of 
wood and scrubbing-brushes. '' Buenas noches, senora; 
buenas noches, senorita; buenas noches, senors,''' they 
cried out pleasantly as their bare feet raised enough dust 
to encircle them. Their black eyes gazed on us in a 
friendly manner and their lovely white teeth glistened in 
a cordial smile. '^ Poor human beasts of burden! Give 
the little one some money, ^' we whispered. ^^Here, this 
is yours, ^' he called, in Spanish, holding forth a silver 
dollar. The smile faded from her face. '' Gracias, no, 
senor!" and she quickly passed on, too proud to accept 
what in all probability was more than she ever owned. 

The sun had long gone down; dark clouds draped the 
*^ White Lady;^' Chapultepec looked dim and hazy. 
With regret we left our prominent position, passed the 
handsome palaces of Escandon, Mier y Oelis and Barron, 
walked through one of the handsomest villages in Mexico 
— Tacubaya — and in a few moments reached our carriage, 
homeward bound, leaving the "Feast of the Gamblers." 
just in the height of its glory. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FEAST OF FLOWERS AISTD LEKTEl?' CELEBRATIOIS'S. 

If they had put both in a kettle and, after constant 
stirring, poured the contents out, there would not hav^ 



98 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 

been more of a mixture of religion and amusement than 
there was during Lent; to a sight-seer it looked as if the 
two forces were waging a battle to see which would pre- 
dominate. It wa*s very interesting, more so from the 
fact that in no other place on earth is Lent celebrated 
like it is in the City of Mexico. I think I told you how 
the carnival season opened, with balls, picnics, and driv- 
ing in full dress on the paseo; then suddenly everything 
collapsed, and the city |)iit on somber robes. Bells tolled 
forth from morning until night, and every other day was 
a saint^s day, when. Catholic or otherwise, we were com- 
pelled to fast; the stores closed, and everything came to a 
standstill. All the night previous fireworks were set off, 
and revolvers cracked until one^s wildest wish was that 
their inventors had never been born. 

One morning I was surprised to learn I could not have 
any coffee — the solitary cup which constitutes our dainty, 
delicious breakfast here. My limited Spanish prevented 
my giving vent to my feelings, and so I nursed my right- 
eous wrath while I took observations. The whole house 
was closed and darkened, the mirrors were covered with 
purple cloths, and every little ornament, which had 
hitherto decorated the house, was missing. All the peo- 
ple of the household were dressed in black, talked in 
whispers, and walked around on their ti^^toes. Dinner- 
time came and we sat down to a bit of dry toast (butter 
is an unheard-of thing), black coffee, chile, or red pep- 
per, and beans. By this time I began to get " shaky,^' 
especially as they did not talk and pulque was dispensed 
with. After saying: " Some one must be dead;^-* ^' They 
must have gotten into some kind of trouble, and are try- 
ing to make believe they are away,"^ I decided to quit 
^^ guessing, ^^ and try to find out the true cause of these 
strange doings. Finally, I decided to see if any of my 
Mexican ''bears" were visible; and, going through the 
parlor, I opened the window leading to the balcony. 
Just as I had removed all the monstrous bars, my land- 
lady came rushing to me, with a burning candle in one 
hand and beads in another, and in louder tones than she 
had spoken before she besought me not to open the win- 
dow. Completely mystified and feeling sure they had 
done some terrible deed, I closed the bars, with one long- 
ing sigh to my ''bears," and then catching her by tho 



SIX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. 99 

shoulder, asked, in trembling tones: ^'^Tell me, what 
have you done?" 

''^Ko compreliende," she ejaculated, looking at me as 
if I had lost my senses. 

^'Porque?" I asked, pulling her around, and pointing 
to the bare tables and cabinets, the draped mirrors, the 
barred shutters. 

'' I am sad because it is my saint's day and my mother's 
day," she explained, and she took me into her room, 
where everything was draped in somber colors. Below 
the picture of her mother were a number of burning can- 
dles placed around a large cross. Before this cross the 
rest of the family were on their knees, and as I slipped 
out and closed iiiQ door I saw her sink down beside them, 
with a look of submission on her face. I have nothing 
more to say, except that I am glad that before a similar 
day rolls around I shall be over the Rio Grande and 
doubtless at home. 

Holy week began on Piernes de Dolores (Friday of 
Sorrow), April 16. As early as 3.30 in the morning the 
bells began to toll, and people flocked to the churches. 
At five o'clock we started for La Viga, where this day is 
celebrated by the Feast of the Flowers, or Paseo de las 
Flores (Flower Promenade). Even at that hour the way 
was crowded with people laden with flowers. When we 
reached La Viga we found it filled with canoes and boats 
burdened with beautiful flowers of every description. As 
far as wo could see up La Viga it was the same — pictur- 
esque people paddling their equally picturesque boats in 
and out and around the crowd. Some of the boats were 
ready for hire. They had awnings made of cane covered 
witli ferns and flowers. Very few could resist their in- 
viting appearance, and by nine o'clock there was not an 
empty boat to be found. 

Along the fragrant, grassy banks sat flower girls sur- 
rounded by heaps of ferns, creamy lilies, delicious pinks 
of hundreds of shades, geraniums and fuchsias of won- 
derful size and color, and roses whose colors, sizes and 
perfumes bewildered me. Honeysuckles, roses, lilies and 
poppies were woven into wreaths, which people bought 
and wore on their heads and around their shoulders. Eat- 
ing-stands were about as plentiful as the flowers, and 
everything that was ever made in Mexico was here for 



100 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

sale. They did a big business, too. Gay crowds would 
sit down on the grass and take breakfast off of a straw 
petate as merrily as if in the finest dining-room. Some 
of these booths were fixed up with canvas covers and 
flower sides; other long booths were fitted up in the same 
manner, hung with the Mexican colors and filled with 
chairs, wliere the tired could pay a medio (six and one 
quarter cents) and sit down. Three bands in holiday 
attire sent forth lovely strains, alternately, from similar 
booths; the trees on either side kept the paseo shady. It 
was filled with people riding and driving; the riders, who 
numbered many ladies, formed a line in the center and 
the carriages drove around and around, down one way 
and up the other. Most of tliose out driving alighted 
and mingled with the masses. It was certainly a most 
enjoyable scene. 

At several places we found things for sale which looked 
like dahlias, with a strange mixture of colors. None 
could determine just what they were, but presently we 
found a man and woman manufacturing them. They 
were nothing more or less than long radishes, which with 
his i3enknife the man turned into all kinds of flowers, 
as well as crosses and other designs. I'he woman deli- 
cately touched one part one color, another another, until 
they formed one of the most beautiful of the many strange 
sights on La Viga. There was quite a rush for them, 
and the happy purchasers triumphantly carried them off, 
while the less fortunate looked on with regret. I got a 
number, but before the next morning their beauty had 
departed forever, and their perfume was loud and unmis- 
takable. Of course there were plenty of venders and 
beggars there. The venders had wax figures represent- 
ing ballet dancers, rope-walkers, angels — any sort of fe- 
male that was skimp in her wearing apparel. Others 
had men fighting bulls, monkeys on horseback, baby 
dolls made of rags, and every little thing which could be 
invented. 

This feast lasted until Sunday evening, and there 
was not a moment from three o'clock Friday morning, 
until twelve o'clock Sunday night, but what the place was 
crowded worse than-Barnum's show in its brightest days. 
The prettiest sight was when the people returned to 
town. • Every carriage, even to the driver's seat, was^filled 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. lOl 

with flowers. The horses and riders were decorated with 
wreaths, and in this manner they all returned to their 
homes. I must describe one rider to you before 1 leave 
La Viga. He rode a beautiful black horse. The Mexican 
saddle was a bright, deep yellow, covered with silver 
ornaments, and a bright sword dangled at the side. The 
bridle was entirely of silver, even to the reins, and silver 
cord and tassels decorated the horse's neck. The rider's 
pants were black and fitted as if he had been poured into 
them. A row of silver buttons, at least the size of pie- 
plates, reached from waist to knee, where they were met 
by high side-buttoned boots. An immense silver spur 
completed that part. His vest was yellow velvet, his coat 
blue, and his wide sombrero red, all heavily trimmed with 
silver, while at the back, peeping beneath his coat, were 
two mammoth revolvers. He was the most gorgeous 
butterfly I ever saw, and attracted attention from Mexi- 
cans as well as myself. 

Sunday was observed by the churches as well as on La 
Viga. It was Palm Sunday, and the Indians had made 
pretty things out of dry palms which they sold to the 
people for from a real (twelve and one half cents) up to 
cinco pesos (15). The devout took these to church and 
had them blessed, and after carrying them home they 
were fixed to the bars of windows, the balconies and above 
the doors, where they will stay for the whole year. They 
say they keep the devil out, and that is their reason for 
using them. 

Excursion trains were run in from all the connecting 
points, people appeared in the most gorgeous hues, and 
venders had no trouble in selling the effigies they carried. 
Holy Thursday came and the bells tolled from early 
morning until ten o'clock, when every one was silent in 
sorrow for the crucifixion. Mass was said in the morn- 
ing, and all turned out to attend divine service. In 
the Alameda, Zocola and paseo bands, to the number of 
three or four, delighted their hearers. It seemed rather 
strange to stand within the church door and hear the 
voice of the priest repeating mass, the piano playing a 
soft prelude (no pipe organs are permitted during holy 
week), and the band mingling the lively strains of some 
light opera, or something equally ridiculous, with this 
solemn service. The altars were all hung with squares 



103 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

of silver or gold tinsel, wliicli were constantly in motion. 
Thousands of candles lighted up the gloomy building, 
and Christ and the Virgin were the only images in sight. 
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon they brought in what they 
said were the oldest and most neglected of beggars. The 
priest washed their feet, and after making the sign of the 
cross with holy oil upon them, they were allowed to de- 
part. I noticed these men's feet had been washed re- 
cently, and also that there were dirtier and poorer people 
in the audience. However, the washer took good care 
not to touch the feet without an intervening towel. At 
night the churches were brilliantly illuminated. It would 
be hard to give an estimate of the candles required, but 
I fully believe that in some of the big edifices 20,000 
vwould not be a bad guess. The devout were all on their 
knees, and everything was as silent as deatii, except the 
piano, which still kept up its soft, soothing melody. 

On Good Friday all the men and women were dressed 
in black, and every church was draped with purple. The 
Virgin was dressed in heavy black velvet. The poor 
Indians laid flowers, money and candles around the 
image, and they could not have been more deeply 
touched had the crucifixion taken place then instead of 
so many hundred years ago. They kissed her feet, her 
garments, and the fioor before her, and showed in a 
thousand humble ways their love and. devotion. 

The ceremony of the Tres Horas (three hours) was cel- 
ebrated in Texcoco. First a lot of masked men ran 
around the yard with sticks, beating the bushes, trees 
and flowers as though in search of something. Then one 
of the men who was far from representing Christ in 
form, feature or complexion, took a heavy wooden cross 
on his shoulders and walked into the church, being 
lashed with a leather strap by the masked men. When 
he fell the people covered their faces and groaned. He 
fell three times before reaching the altar, where an efiigy 
was nailed to the cross. Tlie sounds of the hammer and 
groans and cries of the people made one feel as if some- 
body had dropped a piece of ice down their back. Fi- 
nally, amid the most heartrending cries, the cross was 
raised and the ceremony was over. 

All day wagons, horses, boxes, everything in the toy 
line, with a racket in them, were sold to the people. All 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 103 

the venders were located around the cathedral and Zocolo, 
and the din could be heard several squares away. These 
are called matracas. When Christ was on earth, they 
say, they had no bells with which to call the people to 
mass, so these matracas were made, and a number of men 
would, promenade the streets, swinging them around to 
keep up the incessant cracking. The men would cry 
out, '^ The hour has come for mass, the hour has come 
for mass,^^ and the faithful would hurry away to count 
their beads and say their prayers. A foreigner told me 
this custom was still in vogue in some parts of his coun- 
try, France, during holy week. Hideous effigies, called 
Judas, were for sale. Little ones made of lead were 
bought and tied to the button-hole, the parasol, the 
bracelet, the belt, or any other convenient place. Some 
made of plaster of Paris and paper, from three inches to 
twelve feet long, were bought by old and young and car- 
ried home for Saturday. 

Sabado de Gloria (Saturday of Glory) came bright and 
sunny. All along the streets were strung long Judases, 
some having pasted on them the thirty pieces of silver 
for which he betrayed Christ; the image was made in the 
most horrible form — as a negro, devil, monkey, half 
beast, half human, every form that could possibly be 
thought of. At 11 o^clock the bells began to ring mer- 
rily, as though rejoicing over the fate of Judas, and a 
match was applied to every image in the town; they were 
all filled with powder, and with one accord there was a 
universal bursting and tearing and rejoicing throughout 
the city. As fervent as had been their devotion to the 
Virgin, just as strong was their hatred of Judas — even 
the smallest scraps they tramped upon. 

By 12 o'clock gay colors were resumed, carriages which 
had been rigorously kept out of sight came forth and 
were flying down the paseo as if glad that the time of 
quietness was past. All places of amusement, which had 
been closed during Lent, began sticking up posters an- 
nouncing a grand opening on the next (Sunday) evening. 
The noise of the matracas grew fainter and fainter, and 
gradually ceased. The wind picked up the stray pieces 
of Judases, played with them awhile, and then carried 
them out of sight. The venders who had jammed the 
Zocalo gradually disappeared; the music in the different 



104 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 

parks ceased, and Lent seemed as far gone, by the time 
12 o'clock rang forth, as though six months had passed. 
Such is life. 

On Sunday the theaters, bull-fights, circus and race- 
courses were well attended. The bull-fights were adver- 
tised as the last of the season. The one I attended was 
excellent. The bulls were good ones, and some very new 
and striking features were introduced. One man sat 
down on a chair in the center of the ring with two ban- 
derillias in his hand. The door was opened, and the bull 
rushed in and at him. He sat there, and as it put down 
its head to gore him he stuck the banderillias into its 
neck and sprung aside, while the bull knocked the chair 
into atoms. Everybody cheered, and threw the fellow 
money and cigars. After this toro had been dispatched, 
one man lay clown on the ground and another stood over 
him, keeping his head between his legs. Again they 
opened the door and let a toro in. It rushed for the 
men, but the one standing stuck the banderillias into it 
with such force that it roared with pain and took after 
one of the other fighters in the ring, leaving the two 
men unhurt. The very daring of this delighted the peo- 
ple, for if the man had missed the bull both of them 
would have been killed without the least trouble. 

One toro had horns about four feet wide, and at the 
first plunge it killed one horse. Then it caught another 
horse and threw it on its back, the rider underneath. The 
fighters tried to draw it off, but it stayed there until the 
horse was dead. All that could be seen of the rider was 
his head, which he tried vainly to shield with his arms. 
They carried him ofi for dead. This toro was very hard 
to kill. It required seven lunges of the sword to convert 
him into beef. One toro refused to fight, and when stuck 
with a sharp pica he jumped over the fence and was with 
the audience. Such a scrambling! Most of the people 
threw themselves into the ring, about the first ones to go 
being the guards, who are placed around to take care of 
the people. It was quite a while before quiet was restored, 
and the toro lassoed and removed. 

Bull-fights have lasted longer this season than ever be- 
fore, as it is impossible to fight during the rainy season. 
Now a man comes forward and says he is going to cover 
|ii§ ring and have fights all summer; this will make the 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 105 

light in the ring dim, and the fighters will be at a disad- 
vantage, not being able to calculate their distances. It 
will also make the fights more dangerous and more in- 
teresting. It is needless to add that the people are de- 
lighted at the prospect. Last Sunday one man got so ex- 
cited over the big toro^s fighting that when it was to be 
stabbed he got down into the ring and, taking off his 
high silk hat, asked the judge^s permission to do the 
work. The audience rose to their feet and shouted 
'"^ Yes, yes," but the judge was unkind enough to refuse, 
and thereby deprived us of seeing a fellow in broadcloth 
gored because he thought he could kill a toro. 

Congress is in full session now. The other day they 
passed a bill which was strongly opposed. It is to the ef- 
fect that any one caught meddling with the railroads 
will be shot down instantly without a mementos warning, 
and without a trial. Doubtless many will say that it is a 
first-class law when they think of the wrongs committed 
on the railways in Mexico. But it is such a law as will 
allow thousands of Mexicans whose ^' honor desires satis- 
faction " to take advantage of it. The victim is shot, and 
after he is dead the shooter steps forward and swears that 
he saw him meddling with the railways, or knew he had 
designs on them. This is all he has to do to be freed of 
the murder. While we believe in dealing out unmerciful 
punishment to train wreckers, yet this law is fit only for 
uncivilized countries, and least of all for Mexico, where 
people shoot on the least provocation, ofttimes just for 
amusement, or to test their unerring aim, piercing the 
bi-ain or heart every time. It is, certainly, a grand chance 
for those who have a desire for revenge to obtain it and 
go scot-free. 

However, the law is only to be tried for one year, 
and if it proves good it will be adopted permanently. 
Now is the time for those who claim the country is ruined 
by a ring to remove some of its links, especially the key 
and padlock, and by doing so once again proclaim liberty, 
and prove to the people that the ^^ shoot without trial 
law " really did some good. 

Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) was the next big day for 
Mexico. Then they commemorated the victory over the 
French, and it is done in princely style. A French 
paper rather sensibly remarked that it would look better 



106 SIX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. 

if the Mexicans dropped this foolishness, as the French 
whipped them on the 4th and again on the 6th. Some 
little government-paid sheets came out in editorials as 
mad as turkey gobblers at the sensible insinuation. 

I for one am glad Lent and its eggs, red-pepper, and 
bad-smelling fish is gone. What cowards our stomachs 
make of us all. I really have begun to long for home, or 
rather home-cooking. I have made out a list which I 
view every day, and see how much longer my stomach 
will have to endure this trash. Pixty-six more mornings 
to drink black coffee and long for even ham and eggs, 
with heavenly thoughts of hot cakes and butter. Fifty- 
six more noons to eat boiled cheese, meat stuffed with 
chili (red pepper), fish boiled in chili, with the fins, head, 
eyes, and tail still adhering, dolce (dessert) of fried 
pumpkin sprinkled with chili; fifty- six more suppers to 
eat the same bill of fare set up cold; fifty-six more 
evenings to wonder why pulgras and chinches were ever 
invented. By the way, if it were not for their musical 
names they would surely be unendurable. There is a 
great deal in a name, after all, and if I had to call them 
fleas and bedbugs I should take the next train for the 
States. AVell, I have fifty-six more nights to spend in an 
iron-bottomed bed and then I shall cross the Eio Grande, 
and try once again the pests which inflict mortals there. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

GUADALUPE AlTD ITS KOMANTIC LEGEND. 

We went up to the Zocalo to take a car for Guadalupe. 
All the street cars start from this center, and on some 
lines trains of three to ten in number are made up, so 
that they may be able to resist the bandits who sometimes 
attack them — at least, so the corporation claims. We de- 
termined to try a second-class car, in order to find out 
what they were like. ^ Our party seated ourselves and 
watched the crowd as they came surging in. Two big 
fellows, dressed in buckskin suits and wearing broad 
sombreros, who sat opposite, never removed their gaze 
from us. A pretty little girl and an old man who sported 
a hat about two inches high in the brim, deposited them- 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



107 




selves on one side of us, and a black, dried-np old fellow 
occupied the other. 

When the car was about filled, a woman with a baby 
in her arms, folio wedf by her mother and husband, came 
in; the women sat down facing us, while the husband, 
who wore a linen suit — pretty dirty, too — and carried a 
large purple woolen, serape, of which he seemed very proud, 
wedged himself in be- 
tween us and the piece 
of parchment on our 
left side. We were in- 
clined to resent this 
close contact, and were 
beginning to regret we 
had not taken the other car, where the people are a shade 
cleaner, when a lot of Indian women, with babies and 
bundles, crowded in, and, with a sudden rush which 
knocked the standing ones on to the laps of the others, 
we were off at a 2:40 gait. The women sat down on the 
floor of the car, except one who was dressed a little bet- 
ter than the others. She came up to the dirty Indian by 
my side and told him to get up. He was about to do so 
as an utterance of thanks escaped our lips, when his 
mother-in-law and wife commanded him to sit down 
again. 

This he did in all humbleness, but the woman in 
black commanded him to rise, as he had no money to 
pay his fare. His mother-in-law's ire was up, however, 
and she ordered him to display his wealth. He took out 
a handkerchief, untied the corner and displayed one sil- 
ver dollar and some small change; then the old lady dived 
into the bosom of her dress, and untying a similar hand- 
kerchief, displayed her worldly all. The woman in black 
was convinced she had struck the wrong man, so she sat 
down on the floor and related her side of the story to the 
people in her end of the car, while the mother-in-law 
dealt out the same dose at the other end. The conductor 
came in, and, straddling over the women on the floor, 
sold the tickets for six and a half cents. Another con- 
ductor followed to collect the same, and soon we reached 
our destination. 

Guadalupe is the holiest shrine in Mexico. It is the 
scene of a tradition that is never doubted for an instant 



108 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

by the people. In 1531 the Virgin appeared one evening 
to a poor peon^ Jnan Diego, and told him to 2:0 to some 
wealthy man and say it was her will that a church be 
built on that spot. The Indian, in a great fright, obeyed 
her command, but the wealthy fellow refused to put 
credence in the incredulous story, so the peon returned 
and told the Virgin, who was still there, of his failure. 
She told him to return and show his tilma (apron) as 
proof. 

The amazed fellow did so, and the light disclosed 
the picture of the Virgin painted on the apron. Still the 
unbeliever doubted, and the Virgin sent for the third time 
a bunch of fresh roses such as never before grew in this 
country. The infidel took the flowers, and the picture of 
the Virgin fell from the heart of a rose. > He was con- 
vinced, and built a large church on the spot where the 
Virgin appeared. 

The church is a fine one, decorated with statues, paint- 
ings and gold. The silver railing weighs twenty-sis 
tons, and is composed of a metal composite. The church 
authorities have received numerous offers for this rich 
relic. Some persons desired to replace the railing with 
one of solid silver, but this bargain was not accepted. 
Diego's aj)ron is above the altar in a frame. On it is 
painted a picture of the Virgin, but, to say the very least, 
it was not drawn by a master hand. The bunch of roses, 
which, they claim, never fades, is also shown in a glass 
vase, and is gazed on with reverence by the believers. 
Some unbelievers (some people doubt everything) say 
fresh roses are put in every day, but they are probably 
preserved. 

It is the common belief that anything asked of the 
Virgin of Guadalupe is granted. I have seen people 
pray with their hands outstretched, and after awhile 
murmur, ^'Gracious, gracious!^^ and get up as if the 
favor had been received. Women ofttimes kiss the 
floor when they think they have received mercy at the 
hands of their dear saint. Near the door are hundreds 
of rude oil paintings representing scenes in which the 
Virgin has saved the lives of people. One man fell from 
a second-story wirdow, and by murmuring the Virgin's 
name escaped uninjured. Another was not crushed to 
death, although his horse fell on him. One was released 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



109 



from prison, many from fatal sicknesses, and hundreds 
of canes and crutches in the corner testify to the many 
who have been healed. 

A little green plaza filled with tall trees, beautiful 
flowers, and flowing fountains, separates the church of 
the Virgin of Guadalupe from another, which, in order to 
have some attraction, 
boasts of a well in the 
vestibule, which is ever 
boiling up its muddy 
water. The water 
cures any disease, so 
they say, and at any 
time a crowd is found 
around its magic brim 



filling jars, bottles, 
and pitchers to take 
home, or supping from 
the copper bowl that 
is chained to the iron 
bars that cover the 
well. Very few can 
suppress the look of 
disgust when they try 
to swallow the vile 
stuff with the all-heal- 
ing qualities. 

Nor are these all the 
churches of Guada- 
lupe. Away up on the 
top of a pile of rocks, 
some hundred feet in height, is the oldest church of the 
three. It is quite small, and filled with quaint paint- 
ings. 

At the back of it is the graveyard, where lies the 
body of Santa Anna, and looking down over the brow of 
the hill the tourist can see the building where the treaty 
of peace was signed with the Americans in 1848. It is 
now used as the barracks. At one side of the church is 
one of the queer monuments raised in honor of the Vir- 
gin. The Escandon family, who are believed to be worth 
some 1205 900,000, once had a vessel out to sea, the loss 
of which would have put them in bankruptcy. There 




§^^' 



no SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

were great storms, and tlie vessel had been overdue so 
long that everybody gave it up for lost. The Escandons 
went to the church in a body and prayed to the Virgin to 
restore their property, and they would in return build 
in her honor a stone sail. It must have been considered 
a big inducement, for a few days after the ship came in 
safe, and the stone sail stands to-day a memento of the 
Virgin^s goodness. 

Down on the other side, almost at the foot of the hill, 
is a grotto which, perhaps, is the only one of the kind in 
the world. A poor Indian formed the rough side of the 
stone hill into arches, benches, cunning little summer 
houses and all sorts of retreats. This alone would not 
have been very attractive, so he came to town and 
gathered up all the pieces of china, glassware, etc., and, 
with a cement he had invented, covered every inch with, 
this stuff, fitting them neatly, smoothly and evenly to- 
gether. All sorts of designs he made — the Mexican coat 
of arms, pea-fowls, serpents, birds, animals, scenes from 
life. Eve jolucking an apple in the Garden of Eden and 
handing it to Adam. The work was done so well that it 
now looks like the finest mosaic, and hence it is called 
the Mosaic Grotto. Flowers, trees and vines are growing 
inside, and by candle light it looks like a transformation 
scene. 

There are potteries located here where the Indians 
make all sorts of queer little things, which have some 
claim to beauty, and are bought by the natives as well as 
foreigners. There is some talk of making a pleasure re- 
sort at the village of Papotla, the historic Noche Triste, 
where Cortes, when flying from the furious Aztecs, or- 
dered a short halt, and, sitting down under an old knotted 
and gnarled C3^press tree, wept at his failure. The tree 
is not a thing of beauty and has very little life remaining 
in it now; the top has been removed, and it has been 
badly burned on the inside by some one who had no love 
for the memory of Cortes, A large iron fence now sur- 
rounds it, and effectually blocks the destroyers or trophy 
gatherer^s hand from further vandalism. A pleasure re- 
sort might do well here, as the surrounding country is 
beautiful. Between here and the city is the canal over 
which the Spanish commander, Alvavado^ made his fam- 
ous leap, thereby saving his life. Stories of it differ. 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



Ill 



One says that a wet, mossy log crossed the canal, and 
the Spanish, seeing this their only means of escape, 
tried to cross. The 
condition of the- log 
caused them to slip, 
and they were drowned 
in the depths below. 
When Alvarado came 
to it and saw the fate 
of the others, he stuck 
his spear, or halberd, 
into the center and 
safely sprung over. 
Still others claim he 
made the leap with- 
out the aid of an in- 
tervening log. 

Another pretty story 
has been exploded. 
In the botanical gar- 
den at the palace they 
have the celebrated 
flower Tzapalilqui- 
Xochitl, of the Aztecs. 
The story runs that 
there are only three of 
the kind in the world ^ 
— one at the palace, 
another at a different 
point in Mexico, and 
the mother plant on the mountain. At one time two 
tribes had a long and bloody war for the possession of it, 
so the story goes, but with a great deal more exaggera- 
tion. The plant is commonly called the '^ flower- 
hand," as they claim that inside is a perfect baby hand. 
I went to see it, and was much disappointed. The 
tree grows to a good height. The leaves, heart- shape, 
are thick and about the color of the under part of a 
silver-maple leaf, except that they are very rough, which 
prevents them from glistening like the maple. The 
thick, wax-like, bell-shaped red blossom grows mouth 
upward, and inside is the so-called hand. It has five 
fingers and one thumb, but looks exactly like a bird's 




112 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

claw, and not like a hand. The story ran that there are 
but three in existence. Without doubt the plant is rare 
and there may be no more than a dozen, if that many, 
in the world; but I have seen in the gardens of two dif- 
ferent gentlemen the very same tree. One of these gen- 
tlemen is in Europe, and the other bought his plant 
from him, so there was no way of learning where the 
tree came from. 

Mexican houses are built to last centuries. It is a 
common thing to see houses two hundred years old, and 
they are better than many they are putting up to-day, for 
they are adopting the American style of building in as 
small a space as possible, the structures to stand for a 
few years. The house where Humboldt lived is near the 
center of the city. It is not kept as a monument to his 
memory, as one would suppose when they think of the 
professed love of Mexico for him, but is occupied by a 
private family. The only thing that marks the house 
from those surrounding it is a snicill plate above the door, 
on which is inscribed: ^'To the memory of Alexander 
Humboldt, who lived in this house in the year 1808. In 
the centennial anniversary of his birth. 'The German 
residenters. September 14, 18G9.^' 

At Tacubaya, two miles from the city, there is a large 
tree, about one hundred and seventy feet in height. It 
is green, winter and summer, and was never known to 
slied its leaves, which are of a i3eculiar oblong shape and 
a beautiful livid green. For the reason that it never 
sheds its leaves it derived the name of ^' the blessed tree;" 
the large fountain at the foot, which furnishes the 
water for the poor of the village, is called *^ the fountain 
of the blessed tree," and the pulque shop and grocery 
store opposite are named *'the pulque shop and the 
beautiful store of the blessed tree." 

Mexico is the hotbed of children; the land is flooded 
with them, and a small family is a thing unknown; they 
greet you at every window, at every corner, on every 
woman^s back; they fill the carriages and the plaza; they 
are like a swarm of bees around a honeysuckle — one on 
every tiny flower and hundreds waiting for their chance. 
A man died the other day who was followed to the grave 
by eighty-seven sons and daughters, and had buried thir- 
teen, more than you can count in three generations in 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. llg 

the States, so he was a father to the grand total of one 
hundred children. There is another man living in Mex- 
ico who has had two wives, and who has living forty-five 
children. Down in a small village, out from Vera. Oruz, 
is a father with sixty-eight children. Allowing the small 
average of five to a family, one can see how numerous 
the grandchildren would be. I am acquainted with a 
gentleman whose mother is but thirteen-and-a-half years 
older than he, and she has eighteen more of a family. 
It is a blessed thing that, the natives are able to live in a 
cane hut and exist on beans and rice, else the lists of 
deaths by starvation would be something dreadful. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

A day's TKIP 01^ A STEEET CAK. 

After being annoyed by the porter for two hours, who 
feared we would miss the train, our party of two at four 
o'clock in the morning started for Jalapa. Even at this 
unholy hour a large crowd had gathered at the station, 
where they busied themselves packing their luggage 
aboard. Every woman had one male escort, some several. 
The Mexicans surveyed myself and my chaperone in 
amazement, but I defied their gaze and showed them that 
a free American girl can accommodate herself to circum- 
stances without the aid of a man. The mozo who had 
carried the bothersome sachel demanded ''un peso" (one 
dollar), which I very promptly refused, and gave him the 
smallest change from my purse — twenty-five cents. The 
seats run lengthwise, like in an ordinary street car, and a 
Frenchman sitting opposite, who witnessed our little 
transaction and my very limited knowledge of Spanish, 
remarked: ^^ Well, mademoiselle, you are smarter than I. 
A man charged me one dollar and a half just for the same 
service that one rendered you, and, although I speak 
Spanish, I had to pay it/' 

The occupants of the car were the Frenchman and his 
wife, a musician, wife and sister-in-law, a Mexican and 
Frenchman solitaire, as they say here, and ourselves. It 
was far from daylight, so, making themselves as com- 
fortable as possible, they all went to sleep. The Mexi- 
can women were dressed in plain black, with black veils 



114 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

and very high hats; they carried little black hand 
sachels, wore no gloves, and their finger-nails, easily a 
half-inch longer than the finger, were cut in the bird- 
claw shape then so fashionable. The Frenchwoman did 
not look very pretty, as she slept with her mouth open. 
She was dressed in red silk, with red hat and veil, yel- 
low gloves and linen duster. She was very fleshy, and 
had, besides a hand saclicl, a cage in which were two 
brown birds dotted with red, which they informed us 
later were French canaries. Her husband was about six 
feet three inches, and weighed undoubtedly three hun- 
dred pounds. The solitaire Frenchman was bald-headed, 
and had white side-whiskers, which stood out at right 
angles to the length of one foot; his whiskers were the 
largest part of him. The Mexican had a very red nose, 
extremely thick lips, and was rather effeminate-looking. 
The married Mexican looked exactly like a jolly Irish- 
man—something very extraordinary. After I had fin- 
ished this inspection by the dim light of a lamp which 
hung in the center of the car, I too went to sleep, and 
knew no more till the train stopped at the journey's end, 
a few miles out from Vera Cruz. 

It ended the train's journey, but not ours, for the rest 
of the trip is made by tramway. The cars are very high, 
have four seats, and the rays of the sun are excluded by 
a tin roof and canvas sides. Six mules do the hauling, 
and two cars — first and second-class — are run each way 
daily. They run on a regular iron track, as it was once 
the intention to run steam cars here. A great deal of 
freight is hauled in this manner. The village surround- 
ing this station is entirely composed of straw huts. We 
were soon seated in the tram car, our number increased 
by the guardsmen, who, as the old saying goes, were 
armed to the teeth. A bell rang, and off we started with 
a rush, the second-class car keeping close to us. Our 
happiness would have been supreme had not the driver 
lashed his mules continually. The scenery was fine. The 
tall, graceful palms, the cocoa trees, the thousands upon 
thousands of beautiful orchids and wild flowers, the 
many-colored birds, some piping heavenly strains, others 
taking their morning bath in the running stream which 
crept along the wayside with a dreamy murmur; the de- 
lightfully fragrant, balmy air, everything seemed to lend 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 115 

its aid to make the scene one of indescribable loveliness. 
It was interesting to note the homes and home life of 
the natives in this rural spot; their straw houses are built 
simply by setting trees for corner posts and sticking the 
cane into the ground around them. The roof, of cane, 
grass, or palm leaves, always runs up to a high peak. 
Generally every house has a porch and more rooms than 
one, but never any other floor than the ground. Some- 
times they exhibit good taste in building and one house 
will have several rooms, two or more porches and pretty 
peaks and curves which one would think impossible to 
make of cane; the furniture does not cost much, it con- 
sists entirely of petates; they furnish the tables, the 
beds, the chairs, and,' suspended by a rope, make a com- 
fortable swinging cradle for the babies. This useful 
piece of furniture is nothing more or less than a mat, 
woven by themselves in plain or colored straw; these peo- 
ple, no difference how poor, own burros, dogs, chickens, 
pigs, and other domestic animals, which do not occupy 
outside or separate houses, but live, sleep, and eat right 
in among them. A pig is as much at home in the 
kitchen or parlor as in a mud puddle. It is no un- 
common sight to see sleeping children bound on one side 
by a pig, on the other by a sheep, and at their feet either 
a dog or a goat. 

Dinner was secured at an inn situated midway on the 
line. The landlord taxed each passenger one dollar for 
the frugal repast, and even then did not seem satisfied. 
The rays of the sun were beating fiercely down when the 
travelers again boarded the tram car. One woman took 
from her sachel a cross and prayer book, and read her- 
self to sleep. The other Mexican girl leaned her head 
on the back of the seat and went to sleep. The big 
Frenchwoman turned her back to the side of the car and 
putting her knees up on the seat she, too, went to sleep. 
Her husband by this time was nodding slowly and sooth- 
ingly, while the other Frenchman was trying to tickle 
him by running a straw down his back, but at length he 
tired of efforts unrewarded and sat down and went to 
sleep. When I looked at the two Mexicans they were 
asleep, one with a half-smoked cigarette in his mouth. 
The driver had tied the lines around the brake lock and 
was in the midst of the land of nod. Even the two 



116 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

holders of defensive weapons, wlio were there to guard 
us from all sorts of imaginary evils, were so sound asleep 
that a cannon shot would not wake them. Even the little 
birds had tucked their heads carefully under their winsjs 
and, maybe, were dreaming. It was all so comical that 
I glanced at my little mother to find she was bravely try- 
ing to resist the sleepy god. She gave me a drowsy, 
sympathetic smile, while I buried my face in my light 
shawl and laughed just like I used to do in church when 
I would see anything funny, and my laughter was just as 
hearty and hard to control. The mules had long ago 
gone to sleep, but still managed to move slightly. The 
situation was too overpowering, and I must confess that 
after putting myself into as small a knot as possible I 
deposited my entire body on the seat and soon went 
sound asleep. 

When I opened my eyes I found all the rest awake and 
the married Mexican preparing to shoot birds. The 
driver was certainly the most obliging fellow in the world. 
When anything was shot he stopped the car and waited 
until the other got off and procured his game. The Mex- 
ican shot at everything which was living, except the trees 
and flowers, but he got off for nothing but squirrels, and 
the heartlessness of it made us wish they had a humane 
society here, for many of the poor birds were disabled, 
and the thought that they must live on in pain for many 
days was not a pleasant one. 

Our route lay over the old diligence road that con- 
nected Mexico with the end of the world. Cortes, the 
French and the Americans all traveled over it. We 
crossed tlie old national bridge and saw the ruins of one 
of the forts built by Cortes. When the Mexican tired of 
his killing sport the three ladies joined him in a game of 
cards, which the passengers and driver watched with ab- 
sorbing interest, while the mules resumed their nap. I 
was bored beyond endurance by the listlessness of the 
company, and was not sorry when their attention was at- 
tracted by a cart drawn by four oxen, which was descend- 
ing a high hill in the distance. 

The cards were put aside, and they began to talk about 
the hacienda, which was clearly in view, and the beauti- 
ful mansion, cathedral, and numerous homes for the lab- 
orers, which held a commanding position on top of the 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 117 

same high hill down which the cart was coming. When 
we reached the brow of the hill, by looking back, we 
could see a white streak which separated sky and earth, 
and were told it was the sea at Vera Cruz, sixty miles 
away. The cart stopped at this point, where the motive 
power was renewed by fresh mules, and its passengers- 
three women— kissed and hugged the trio of Mexicans in 
our party. The hacienda, owned by our fellow trayelers, 
once belonged to Santa Anna. AYhen we resumed the 
journey it was drawing on toward evening, and I began 
to view .the beautiful surroundings with but a lazy inter- 
est; the queer fences, built of mud and topped with cac- 
tus plant, and hedges formed of beautiful palms, fifty or 
one hundred years old, commanded but a passing glance. 
Pretty little homes, lovely gardens and sugar factories 
had ceased to be of interest, so we settled down to rest 
until the Frenchman stretched out his arm and ejacu- 
lated *^ Jalapa!" 

In a moment all weariness vanished, and we were fresh 
as in the morning. I wish I could show you Jalapa just 
as I saw it then. It nestled down in the valley like a 
kitten in a cushioned basket. The white houses gleamed 
like silver through the green trees, while the surround- 
ing mountains were enveloped in a light bluish mist 
which grew black as the distance increased. The sun 
had just slipped behind one, leaving its golden trail, the 
black and white clouds, the misty mountains all mixed 
in one harmonious mass. We entered the town with a 
rush, the driver blowing his tin horn to warn the inhabit- 
ants of our arrival. A large crowd had collected at the 
station, but only two hotel runners were there to bother 
us, and as all the other passengers were citizens they 
clung to us faithfully. The Frenchman said he would go 
with us to the hotel and make all arrangements. He 
took us to what he thought was the best, ^nd asked the 
woman the price. " One dollar and fifty cents a day," 
she said, and as we were satisfied he bade us good-bye, and 
left us to the tender mercies of the Mexicans. The hotel 
was certainly very clean and nice. In the courtyard were 
trees and flowers. A porch paved with brick tile sur- 
rounded this, and was hung at every available space with 
bird cages. The building, only one-story, was painted 
white, with trimmings of blue. The overhanging roof 



118 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

was down low, and the rafters, which are never hidden, 
were painted a light blue. The sapper was undoubtedly 
the best we had eaten in Mexico, and it immediatel}^ put 
a warm place in our heart for the little superintendent, 
who lived awhile in the States and there learned to cook. 

Jalapa is at present the capital of the State of Vera 
Cruz; the capital business is very different here from 
what it is in the States; there, once a capital, always a 
capital; here, every new Governor locates the capital 
where it best suits his convenience, if that should be in 
the forest. Orizaba and Vera Cruz have both served re- 
peated terms, but Jalapa made a successful run and got 
in at the last convention. It is a very old town, and not 
only noted for the beauty of its women, who possess light 
hair and ej^es, and beautiful complexions, but for the 
beauty of its location. It is known as the flower garden 
of Mexico, and the old familiar saying was, ^' See Jalapa 
and die,-*^ as it was supposed to contain everything worth 
seeing; but at present it is simply a beautiful, sleepy 
l^aradise, reminding one of a pretty child in death — quiet 
and still, almost buried in a wealth of flowers; the govern- 
ment buildings and churches are very fine, but the houses 
are only one story; they are built with low, red- tiled, 
overhanging roofs, and are tastily painted. Some pink 
houses have light-blue overhangers and vice versa, while- 
white houses have blue or pink, and the yellow have blue, 
pink, and white trimmings. Every street is very irreg- 
ular, narrow in some places, wide in others, and as 
crooked as the path of a sinner. One can walk for a 
day and imagine they are on the same street all the time, 
or on a diflerent one every thirty feet, just as fancy 
dictates. 

One would willingly spend a lifetime on this " spot of 
earth let down from heaven,^' as the Mexicans speak of 
it. Away over hills and ravines can be seen the great 
Cofre de Perote, thirteen thousand five hundred and.fifty- 
two feet high. A great mass of white porphyry, in the 
shape of a chest, gleams from its dark side. From this 
it derived its name, " Oofre.-" Still above all, as though 
endeavoring to reach heaven, is the snowy peak of Ori- 
zaba. The former is within a day's travel from the town, 
and well deserves a visit. To the northeast, thirty miles 
distant, is the lovely village of Misantla^ noted for its 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 119 

beautiful scenery and Aztec temple and pyramid. A lit- 
tle further north is another pyramid, the finest and old- 
est in Mexico. Jilatepec is only seven miles away. It is 
a lovely Indian village, peculiarly situated at the bottom 
of a deep valley. Several foreign families are located at 
the flower town of Cuatepec, owners of some of its far- 
famed coffee plantations. 

Jalapa has a population of 12,400, and an elevation of 
4,335 feet. The climate is cool, the soil fertile, and the 
town never visited by contagious diseases. All around 
are plantations of coffee, tobacco, vanilla, cotton, maize, 
and jalapa — the well-known old medicine which was a 
remedy for every known ill to which flesh is heir to. 
Jalapa is pronounced as though it were.spelled with an h, 
with a soft sound to the a — Halapah. There are many 
cotton mills around the suburbs that are well worth the 
time it takes to visit them. We visited one owned by 
our polite French friend. The building once sheltered 
nuns, and the garden which surrounds it shows what it 
might once have been, but is now one tangled mass 
of climbing roses, lemon, orange and coffee trees, and 
numerous flowers for which I know no name. At 
the back, from a little stone turret, one can view a 
smooth green plain divided by a silvery stream— known 
by the inappropriate name of the Dry River, while it was 
never known to go dry — which flows on to make that 
ponderous machinery its slave, as it turns around with 
almost diabolical glee. Men and women do the work. 
They receive from one real to seventy-five cents a day. 
The machinery all comes from England. 

]^ot far from the main Cathedral are the ruins of the 
Convent of San Francisco. It is easily three hundred 
years old, and is of immense size. Over the door of the 
chapel part we could trace '^Property of King Philip, of 
Spain, ^' while cut in gilt letters on a black plate, just a 
little nearer the edge of the building, is the inscription, 
'' Land of Benito Juarez." The baths are now used for 
the benefit of the public, costing only six cents. The 
open swimming baths are used for horses and dogs, the 
former costing three cents, the latter gratis, providing 
the canine accompanies the horse. The public laundry 
is another place of interest. It is situated in the center 
of the town, built of brick, with stationary porous stones 



no SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

for washboards. The city charges nothing for the nse of 
the place. 

When evening came I called my old landlady up and 
offered her three dollars for the day. ^' 'No/' she said, ''I 
want six dollars.'^ I was astonished, but managed — with 
a mixture of English and Spanish — to tell her I would 
pay no more. She went to her husband and he made 
out a bill '' payable by Nellie Bly for two — supper, all 
night, coffee and breakfast, six dollars."" I told her it 
was all wrong, and added that she was bad, because I 
did not know a Spanish word for cheat, but I wanted to 
get as near it as possible. At last I tried to drive some 
sense into her head, and exjolained that the bill for one 
day for two was three dollars.^' " Si hay " (pronounced 
'^'^see eye ^^), she asserted. ^^ Well, I came last night, 
was here till this afternoon; one day, eh?^'' ^^No, two," 
was her astonishing reply. ^^ Well, madame, twenty- 
four hours is one day in the United States, and if it isn't 
so here, I will start it now," I gave her three dollars; 
and, remembering the old adage that " he who fights 
and runs away lives to tight another day," and having no 
desire to leave my bones in Jalaj^a or go to Vera Cruz 
with a map drawn on my face with her finger nails, re- 
turned to my room and left her to vent her rage on her 
husband or servants, as she wished. But she was not 
going to be beaten by a ^'^ gringo," so she sent for the 
Frenchman who brought me there. He rapped on my 
door, and asked what was wrong. I told him the old 
lady was not only seeing double, but counted everything 
by the second multiplication table. He laughed, and 
said she thought I was a '' gringo," and she could cheat 
me. He soon made her see clearer, and we remained the 
following night and had supper for seventy-five cents. I 
had learned pretty well how to make all arrangements 
first, and proposed m the future not to drink a glass of 
water until I knew the price. I had no intention of al- 
lowing a Yankee girl to be cheated by a Mexican, man 
or woman. 

The next morning we started on our return trip to 
Vera Cruz. We looked forward to it with pleasure, as 
the former day spent on a street car was one of the most 
pleasant and unique experiences of my life. We had very 
few passengers down, the conductor, two soldiers, driver, 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 121 

one old woman and ourselves^ and a game rooster, who 
crowed at every village, and was treated with as much 
consideration as a babe would have been. At the station, 
just before we started, an old man who had heard us 
speaking English, came up and spoke to us. He was an 
American, but having lived in this town for forty years 
had forgotten his mother tongue. His English was about 
as good as the newsboy's wlio took me to his hotel in 
Vera Oruz. The old woman was going about one hun- 
dred and twenty-five miles to see her married daughter, 
and she was bare-headed. This woman did not know 
there was such a thing as the United States, could not 
imagine what New York meant, and had never heard of 
G-eorge Washington, not to mention the little hatchet 
and the democratic cry of '^'If at first you don't succeed, 
try, try again." She made the day's trip alternately 
smoking a cigarette and reading her prayer-book. A 
short way out on the road the driver got off and picked 
up a little gray bird by the roadside. On examination 
I found its side was terribly lacerated by a shot, but I 
bound it up with my silk handkerchief and decided to 
carry it to Vera Cruz, where I would try my hand at 
surgery. The day passed similar to the former one, every- 
body going to sleep after dinner; but the beauty of the 
country, and the novelty of a day in a street car, robbed 
it of all disagreeable features, and as we neared Vera Oruz 
I not only noted this the spiciest experience of my life, 
but said I would not exchange it for any other in the 
Eepublic of Mexico. 



OHAPTER XX. 

WHER# MAXIMILIAK'S AMERICA^ COLONY LIVED. 

0]sr opening my door one morning to leave for the rail- 
way station a man, who had evidently been waiting by 
the side of the entrance, sprung forward and seized my 
baggage. My first impression was that he was a robber; 
but I retained my screams for another occasion and de- 
cided it was a mozo who wanted to help me to the train. 
Remembering former experience, and wishing to profit 
thereby, I rushed after and caught him just at the head 
of the stairway. Olutching his blouse with a death grip, 
I yelled, " Ouanto?" '' Un peso," he answered. Well, 



122 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

as I was a liealtliy American girl, and as strong as one 
can be after several months' training on heans and cay- 
enne pep23er, I had no intention of giving a great, big, 
brown fellow $1 for carrying a five-pound sachel half a 
square. I said ^' no ^Mn a pretty forcible manner, and 
gave weight and meaning to my monosyllable by jerking 
the sachel awaj. He looked at me in amazement, and as 
he saw I was not going to be cheated he said fifty cents. 
I said nothing, and, picking up the sachel, trudged down- 
stairs. At the door he onee more approached me and 
asked how much I Avould give. '^Un medio'' (six and a 
quarter cents), I replied. ''Bueno,"he said, and took 
it at the price, while I congratulated myself on saving 
ninety-three and three-quarter cents. 

The car was full of people who, we found out after- 
ward, composed a Spanish opera troupe. Although 
they were not many they filled the car, and in order to 
get a seat we had to put down shawls, beer and wine- 
bottles, band-boxes, lunch-baskets, a pet dog, a green 
parrot, and numerous small things. Every woman had 
at least three children, which were cared for by as many 
nurses. Oh, what a howling, dirty, lazy mob! 

T-he pretty little town of Cordoba lies about two miles 
from the station, and street cars, hauled by four mules, 
await each train and carry the passengers to the village 
— first-class, twelve and a half cents; the cars wind 
through little streets shaded on either side by beautiful 
foliage, which, every here and there, gives the tourist 
tantalizing glimpses of the exquisite tropical gardens 
within; the street car passes the only hotel in the town — 
the Diligencia. It is a low, one-story structure, and 
looks more like a cattle-yard than a habitation for hu- 
man beings; the overhanging roof droops toward the 
pavement, and is within a few feet of the ground. In- 
side one sees a little porch on one side, which, covered 
with many trailing, curling vines, serves for the dining- 
room. Opposite is an office and bedroom combined, 
where, at the desk, sits a grizzly-haired man writing, 
ever writing, from morning until night's shade hides the 
tracing from his aged eyes. 

He greets one with a weary, pathetic, smile, and a far- 
away look in his saddened eyes, as though wondering what 
Jaas become of all the guests who used to trip in gayly, 



SIX MONTBS IN MEXICO. 123 

with black eyes and white teeth sparkling in evident 
pleasure at reaching his hospitable board, with whom he 
grasped hand, and in true Mexican style said, " My house 
is yours/^ and that friend responded, "Your humble 
servant/-' Poor old landlord, he has lived too long! The 
advent of civilization has rushed in upon his friends and 
crushed out'his trade. The noisy old diligencia has long 
ceased to rattle except in his memory, and the modern 
street-car stops at his door once in many months to leave 
him a white- faced, curious stranger, whom he greets with 
that strange smile and then returns to his writing, wait- 
ing for that which is nevermore. 

A man and woman came in on the same train, and the 
latter offered her services to us, being able to speak the 
two languages. When we entered, the chambermaid 
took my troublesome baggage and led us back to where 
the rooms formed a circle around the court. In the 
center stood a large basin where several old horses and 
mules — which looked like old ^' Eip " after his long sleep 
— were lazily drinking. They paused long enough to 
survey the unusual arrival. When we entered our room 
the chambermaid — who is always of the male gender in 
Mexico — set down my baggage and demanded fifty cents. 
I, not feeling disposed to throw money away, decided not 
to pay one cent. Accordingly, I laid aside my few words 
of Spanish and spoke to him in English. " What do you 
want? I don^t understand,^' etc. At last he took two 
quarters from his pockets and held them before me on his 
open palm. I calmly reached put, and, taking them, was 
going to transfer them to my pocket when he, in great 
alarm, yelled: "Ko, no!" and grabbing them, tied them 
up in the corner of his handkerchief, with great haste 
and evident pleasure. It had the effect of curing him, 
for he immediately shook hands and left without demand- 
ing more. 

Cordoba, or Oordora, was established April 26, 1617, 
with 17 inhabitants. It was during the time of the Vice- 
roy Diego Fernandez de Cordoba, Marquis of G-uadal- 
cazar, and was named for him. King Philip III. of 
Spain issued the charter on November 29 of the same 
year. The population to-day, composed oi Mexicans, 2 
Germans and 1 American, is 44,000. It is built com- 
pactly. The town is clean and healthful. Nearly all the 



124 SIX MONTHS IN 3IEXIC0. 

streets are pavcd^ but everything lias a quiet, Sunday- 
afternoon appearance. There are no public works, but 
the surrounding plantations, which mark it as one of the 
prettiest places in Mexico, furnish work for the popu- 
lace. The Indians are cleaner and better looking than 
those around the City of Mexico, and children are not so 
plentiful. But one pulque shop is running, consequently 
there are less drunken people than elsewhere, yet the jail 
is full of prisoners. On Sunday people are permitted to 
visit their friends in jail. They cannot go in, but they 
can go as far as the bars and look through. The pris- 
oners are herded like so many cattle. Their friends 
carry them food. They push a small basket through the 
bars, and the intervening officer puts it through another 
set of bars into the hands of the fortunate receiver. 
Sometimes the prisoners get a few pence and are enabled 
to buy what they want from the venders who come there 
to sell. Indeed, it is ofttimes difficult to say which mob 
looks the worse, the one on the inside or the visitors. 

The market at present is situated on the ground around 
the plaza, but some well-disposed Spanish gentleman is 
building what will be one of the handsomest jnarket 
houses in Mexico. It is situated on the edge of town, 
and the surroundings are most pleasing. On one side is 
the ruins of an old convent, famous for the goodness of 
the sisters, their exquisite needlework, their intelligence 
and beauty. But time has laid his hand heavily on the 
structure, and it has fallen into decay. At the back 
stands a high marble shaft, broken at the top, and dotted 
with green cacti which have sprung forth from the 
little crevices. It has the appearance- of very old age, 
but was erected in honor of those who fell in the fight for 
liberty. One of the finest gardens in Mexico bounds the 
other side. It is the proj^erty of the gentleman who 
gave the ground and is building the market house, which 
alone will cost 150,000. It is a marvel of beautiful walks 
and cunning retreats. It seems absurd that such a spot, 
so fitted for love-making, should be placed in a country 
where they don^t know how to make nse of it. In the 
center stands a Swiss cottage built of cane, with a stained- 
glass window. 

A stairway, also of cane, leads to the second story, and 
little balconies surrounding the colored windows give one 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 1S5 

fi lovely view of the entire valley and surrounding liills. 
I wish it were in my power to give some idea of the beau- 
tiful flowers which are forever opening up their pretty 
perfumed faces in this entrancing spot; there are thou- 
sands of roses, of all colors and shades, from the size of 
a gold dollar to that of the fashionable female^s hat. One 
spot shows tiny flowers fit for the fairies, of wonderful 
shade and mold; next would be a large, healthy, rugged 
tree, which bore flowers as delicate and dainty as any 
plant in existence. It reminded one of a strong father 
with his tiny babe in his protecting arms; the handsome 
avenues are perfect bowers of beauty; the little birds in 
the foliage twitter softly but incessantly. It is all life, 
but in a subdued, gentle monotone, soft as the last lullaby 
over the little child who has closed its eyes and, with a 
smile, joined that heavenly band to which it rightly be- 
longs. 

This is the only place in Mexico where we found a 
man who knew enough to have the flowers separated by 
a green lawn. It is the universal rule here to grow any- 
thing but grass, which is considered an unsightly weed. 
A Spanish gentleman once took me to see the grounds 
surrounding a Mexican mansion. The trees, flowers, 
and shrubs, as well as the statuary and fountains, could 
not be excelled, but the ground was bare as Mother Ilub- 
bard^s cupboard, and swept as clean as a dancing floor. 
'' This place cost more tl^an five million dollars, and 
thousands more yearly," explained the gentleman. 
^^ You have nothing in the States to compare with it.-" 

Cordoba supports three public schools and male and 
female academies, one theater and about thirty churches. 
The finest church, located next to the plaza, cost thou- 
sands of dollars. It has a marble floor and twenty altars, 
dressed in the finest lace, with silver and gold ornaments. 
The frescoing displays exquisite workmanship. The 
images are wax-clacl, and quaint. 

The plantations surrounding Cordoba grow oranges, 
pine apples, coffee, bananas, tobacco, rice, cocoanuts and 
peanuts. Coffee was introduced into the West Indies 
in 1714, and here in 1800. It grows best in a temperate 
zone, and Vera Cruz raises more than any other state in 
Mexico. Most every variety requires protection from the 
sun, and will die if set out alone, so those having large 



126 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

groves plant cofiee in them. Others make double use of 
their fertile land by planting groves of cocoa palms with 
the alternate rows of coffee trees. The leaf and bark of 
a coffee tree resemble that of a black cherry. The blos- 
som is white and wax-like, with a faint perfume, and the 
berries grow on a branch like gooseberries. A tree will 
bear three years after planting the seed, and on one 
branch will have ripe and green coffee and blossoms all 
at the same time. When ripe it is gathered and laid on 
the ground to dry, being stirred every morning to dry it 
equally. This whips the hull off, and it is taken to the 
village, where it sells for four cents a pound. Each hull 
holds two grains. One tree will live and-bear, with little 
or no cultivation, for eighty years. Bananas are four 
years old before they bear. The finer banana is never 
seen in the States, as it will not bear shipping. The kind 
shipped there the people here consider unfit to eat unless 
cooked, and they prepare some very dainty dishes from 
them. There are more than fifty different varieties, from 
three inches in length to three-quarters of a yard. The 
small ones are the best. The leaves are used by the mer- 
chants for wrapping- j)aper, and by the Indians for thou- 
sands of different things. 

Tobacco now grows in about half the states of the re- 
public, and thrives up to an elevation of six thousand 
feet. Formerly its cultivation was restricted to Orizaba 
and Cordoba, and a leaf of it found growing elsewhere, 
either accidentally or for private consumption, was, by 
law, promptly uprooted by officials appointed to watch for 
it. In 1820 two million pounds of it grew in this dis- 
trict, but now the output is greatly decreased, owing to 
the heavy taxes. Sugar cane grows in all but six states, 
up to an elevation of six thousand feet. It requires eigh- 
teen months for crops to mature, except in warmer soil, 
when it takes from eight to ten months. 

One remarkable thing is, that the men who own the 
fine gardens surrounding the village do not live near 
them, as one Avould suppose, but inhabit stuffy little 
houses in the midst of the town. One bachelor has on 
his plantation plants from all parts of the world, over 
which he has traveled ten times. He cultivates all kinds 
of palms in existence, among which we noticed what is 
known as the ^^ Traveler's tree.^' It is a strange looking 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 127 

thing, with long, flat, thick leaves growing up as though 
planted in the center and hanging loose at the ends. 
The flower is beautiful, with three long petals, the upper 
two white and the under one a sky blue. It is of a wax- 
like stiffness. Eeaders of books of travel will be familiar 
with the tree. It derives its name from the fact that it 
grows in the desert where no water is to be found. On 
thrusting a penknife into its body a clear stream of water, 
probably a pint and a half, will flow from one cut, and 
people traveling through the desort quench their thirst 
from this source, hence its name. The water is very cool 
and has a slight mineral taste, but is rather good and 
pleasing. It gives water freely all day, but, after the sun 
sets, is perfectly dry. 

The bread and quinine trees are among his interesting 
collection. One odd plant attracted attention. It bore 
a round, green leaf, but wherever there is to be a blossom 
the four leaves turn a pretty red and form a handsome 
flower, each leaf forming a petal. The true blossom, 
which does not amount to much, being long and slim, 
like a honeysuckle, forms the stamens. It is of foreign 
importation, and grows m a climbing vine, whole arbors 
beiug covered with it. The grounds are surrounded by a 
hedge of cactus, which is strong and impassable. The 
Yucca palm and fruit cactus grew off in a corner by 
themselves.' Several small streams run through this 
plantation, spanned by lovely rustic bridges. In the 
deep ravines are found ferns of every variety known, 
and on the trees a collection of orchids which, I believe, 
has no equal in any country. The happy owner, who is 
a bachelor worth about $20,000,000, lives in a little house 
in the center of this town, which has never been furnished 
until last winter, but in the courtyard he has plants from 
every country in the world, for which the shipment alone 
cost 140,000. 

Down by Cordoba I found a tribe of Indians who are 
not known to many Mexicans excepting those in their 
vicinity; they are called the Amatecos, and their village, 
which lies three miles from Cordoba, is called Amatlan; 
their houses, although small, are finer and handsomer 
than any in the republic. Flowers, fruit, and vegetables 
are cultivated by them, and all the pineapples, for which 
Cordoba is famous, come from their plantations; they 



128 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

weave all their own clothing, and have their own priest, 
church, and school. Everything is a model of cleanli- 
ness, and throughout the entire village not one thing 
can be found out of j)lace; the women are about the 
medium height, with slim but shapely bodies; their 
hands and feet are very small, and their faces of a beau- 
tiful Grecian shape; their eyes are magnificenb, and 
their hair long and silky; they dress in full skirt, with 
an overdress made like that we see in j^ictures of Chinese 
women, or like vestments worn by priests of the Catholic 
Church. It is constructed of cotton in the style and 
pattern of lace. Around the neck and ends it is beauti- 
fully embroidered in colored silk, the dresses always 
being white. On the feet they wear woven slippers of a 
pink color, and on their heads a square pink cloth long 
enough in the back to cover the neck, like those worn 
by peasant girls in comic operas; the arms are bare, cov- 
ered alone with bands and ornaments; the neck is en- 
circled with beads of all descriptions, and is also hung 
with silver and gold ornaments; the ear-rings are very 
large hoops, like those introduced into the States last 
fall; they never carry a baby like other tribes, but all the 
children are left religiously at home. 

The men are large and strongly built, not bad-featured, 
and wear a very white, low-necked blouse and panta- 
loons, which come down one- third the distance between 
waist and knee. They also wear many chains, orna- 
ments, bracelets, and earrings. They are always spot- 
lessly clean, and if they have a scratch on their body — of 
which they get many traveling the thorny roads — they do 
not go outside their village until entirely healed. They 
are industrious and rich, and never leave their homes 
but once a week, where they bring their marketing and 
sell to the Indians in Cordoba, as they are never venders 
themselves, selling always by the wholesale. Their lan- 
guage is different from all the others, but they also S23eak 
Spanish. The women are sweet and innocent. They 
look at one with a smile as frank as a good-humored 
baby\ and are undoubtedly the handsomest and cleanest 
people in the republic. I would not have missed them 
for anything, and can now believe there are some Indians 
like the writers of old painted them. 

In th^ time of Maximilian a colony of Americans asked 



A 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 139 

the emperor for land on which to settle. He kindly 
gave them their own choice^ and they settled at Cordoba, 
where they had the advantage of the tropical clime and 
were secure from yellow fever. They were three hun- 
dred in number, and in a short time, with true American 
industry, they made business brisk. Three American 
hotels were established, and the plantations were the fin- 
est and most prosperous in the land. Maximilian looked 
on the little band with favor and gave them ample aid 
and protection. During the rebellion the liberty party 
made raids on their homes, destroyed their property, and 
not only made them prisoners and hurried them off to 
Yucatan — a place from which there is no escape — but 
murdered them whenever they wanted some new amuse- 
ment. Maximilian was powerless to help those who had 
prospered under his care, and just when he was to be 
shot the last of the colony, who feared the liberty party, 
deserted their once happy homes and went to another 
country. Only one remained. Dr. A. A. Russell, who 
has been .the solitary American here for twenty years. 
The hotels have disappeared," and the plantations, now 
possessed by Mexicans, bear no traces of their once tidy 
and prosperous appearance; this is the history of the first 
and last American colony ever formed in Mexico, given 
me by the last remaining colonist, who reminds one of 
the last chief, inconsolable and disconsolate, keeping 
vigil at the tombs of his people until death shall claim 
him too. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

A MEXICAK AECADIA. 

^' If you come over here you will get a better viow,^^ 
spoke a gentleman as he came from the back end of the 
car hauling us from Cordoba to this place. We were 
nearly breaking our backs in a vain endeavor to look over 
a man and wife, surrounded by almost as many children 
as belonged to the old woman in the shoe, down the per- 
pendicular side of the mountain into the deep ravine be- 
neath. We took a survey of the speaker, of his light 
woolen suit with wide sombrero to match, his pleasant, 
handsome face, and mentally decided that he was not 
only worth looking at, but also worth talking to. By the 



130 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

time tlie train had passed the barranca we were in a deep 
conversation, quite after the manner of Americans, and 
although none of us asked any impudent questions we 
were discussing marriage and women^s rights, 

^^ I think every woman should be taught some useful 
occupation/^ he said, '^ and their education should be un- 
limited. But the one great fault of the world is not 
paying a woman what she is worth. There are few 
things in which a woman is able to sell her talents at the 
same price as a man, and it is a reproach to humanity 
that it is so. I have three daughters now at school. 
The eldest 13 studying to be a physician, the second has 
great artistic ability which she is cultivating, and the 
third is a good musician. In either of these vocations 
they can take their place among men and receive the 
same recompense. 

*'I am living in Orizaba now, ^^ he continued, ^'and 
have been hunting deer for the past few days just below 
Cordoba. We saw plenty, but our man and dogs did not 
understand the game, so we returned empty handed. 
The only thing wounded is my friend back there, who 
fell out of a hammock while we were away and sprained 
his ankle. '^ As we told him Orizaba was also our desti- 
nation, the next question was where did we intend to stop, 
and found it was the place where he lived. After he had 
given the wounded man into the care of friends, we got 
on a car and soon reached our hotel. It was so dainty 
and nice that I cannot resist a brief description for the 
benefit of those who may some day be in its locality. 

It is known as the La Borda, and is near the station, 
as well as the best in the town. The rooms are a model 
of cleanliness and neatly furnished. Erom the front one 
can survey part of the village, and the range of mount- 
ains outlined against the sky like immense waves, each 
one climbing higher, and above all the great mountain, 
that majestic monument which wears its snowy night- 
cap seventeen thousand two hundred feet above the level 
of the sea. At the rear of the house, just below the din- 
ing-room windows, is a never-ceasing waterfall which" 
goes to feed some mills in the vicinity. In the first glim- 
mer of day with our wakening senses we hear its mur- 
muring song with that of the birds. Its sound is in a 
gentle, half-subdued manner, as though enticing the 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. V61 

birds to come nearer to its brink and bathe their toes and 
quench their thirst with its foaming waves. Near mid- 
day it gets loud and boisterous, and you seem to hear: 
*'The day is short, improve your time/' over and over 
with a monotony that rather fascinates us. 

Directly above this wonderful fall is a cozy little garden, 
cultivated by the landlady, who also deserves a word! 
She is a German, who accompanied her husband to this 
country some years ago. He died and left her in a strange 
land with two baby girls, whom she maintains by running 
this hotel. She is quite pretty, and speaks German and 
Spanish fluently, while she is studying English, and under- 
stands some now. She keeps her house, like most Ger- 
mans, as clean as it can possibly be made, and endeavors 
to have all her guests feel at home. The cooking is so 
good and everything so comfortable that one would fain 
have the little German woman and the La Borda in every 
town in the republic. 

Orizaba is a beautiful little valley surrounded by a 
chain of majestic mountains. The houses are white 
and most generally of one and two stories. There are 
25,500 inhabitants. It was for a long time the cap- 
ital of Vera Cruz. When this place was first founded 
m the year 1200 by the Tlascaltacas, its original name 
was Ahanializapan, which, translated, meant ^^ Pleasure 
m or on the water.'' The people prospered and lived in 
peace and happiness until the Aztec Emperor Montezuma 
reduced them to his dominion in 1457. Still under such 
a good and wise king they could not be otherwise than 
happy in this lovely garden, until Gonzalo Sandoval un- 
dertook and was successful in conquering them in 1521. 
But even war did not stop its progress, and in ten years 
later, in 1531, the governor gave it its present name, the 
Valley of Orizaba. The people grew in intelligence, and 
were industrious and religious. In 1534 they built their 
first parish church, Gonzalode Olmedo, and as early as 
1599 had put up a building and opened their first school. 
Inhabitants increased rapidly, and in 1774 it took the 
rank of town. Not satisfied yet, they built up, and the 
population increased by birth and new settlers until in 
1830 it was declared to be a city. 

Orizaba was for a long time capital of its state. Vera 
Cruz, and is now the pleasure and health resort for peo- 



18^ SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

pie from all over the republic, besides being the home 
of the wealthy people of Vera Cruz. No yellow fever or 
any of the other diseases come to this dainty va;lley, yet 
twelve doctors are holding forth and trying to gain a liv- 
ing in the vicinit}^ All are Spanish, with the exception 
of one, an Austrian, and only two speak English, one of 
whom used to write for an American paper. Eor the en- 
tire ]3opulation there are but three baths (banos), but 
the poor can go to the river which runs near b}^ The 
only amusements are the billiard hall, bowling alle)^, and 
two fine theaters. One contains 272 lunetas, eighteen 
plateas, nineteen palcos, and one galeria. The other cost 
Il00,000, and has a magnificent interior. It has 252 
lunetas, eighty balconies, three grilles, thirteen first-class 
and thirteen second-class palcos, and one galeria. 

On the map there are recorded but eleven churches, 
but even from our hotel window we could count many 
times the number. Those recorded are the San Antonie, 
Calverio, Concordid, Las Dolores, Santa Gertrudes, San 
Jose de Gracia (ex-convent), San Juan de Dios, San 
Maria, Tercer Orden and La Parroquis, which is the 
largest and finest. It is situated in the zocalo and has 
had its steeple knocked off three times by earthquakes. 
The latter seem to have a special grudge against this one 
church, for although they have caused the towers of many 
others to lean, they have never shaken any of them 
completely down. Orizaba must be a very naughty child 
■ — beautiful children most always are — for Dame Nature 
often gives it a shaking. She is an indulgent and not 
very severe mother, as little or no damage is ever done by 
the correction, excepting to this one cathedral. During 
our stay the earth shivered as though struck with a chill, 
but the people paid no more attention to it than we do 
to a summer shower; not half so much, in fact, as we do 
when the mentioned shower threatens to ruin our Easter 
bonnet. 

Two little Spanish papers of four pages, or two sheets, 
about 8x6 inches square, retail at twelve and a half cents 
and furnish the news for the inhabitants. The children 
here should not be lacking in education, as there are ten 
schools for boys and six for girls; they can start at any 
age, and go as long as they wish. Besides this, the gov- 
ernment sustains a preparatory college of one hundred 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 133 

and fifty students^ at the yearly cost of eleven thousand 
dollars; a high school for girls, two hundred and fifteen 
pupils, at two thousand eight hundred dollars, and a 
model school for boys, one hundred and eighty students, 
at five thousand six hundred dollars. The government 
also gives a subsidy to five adult schools of six hundred 
dollars. The municipality schools, four for boys, three 
for girls and five for adults, cost 5^early eight thousand 
dollars. In addition, there are twenty-nine private 
schools, with an attendance of five hundred and forty 
girls, six hundred and forty boys and sixteen adults; yet, 
with all this well-made report, there are in the Republic 
of Mexico two million five hundred thousand people who 
cannot read or write. 

Orizaba has rather a big heart — they furnish a free 
home for men and one for women with hospitals attached, 
but one don't dare mention their cleanliness or order; 
they are under the superintendence of the Board of 
Charity. There is also a retreat for the insane, which, 
like ours in the States, occupies a spot free from all 
other habitations. The last year's report of the town's 
statistics shows that they received indirect contributions, 
125,000; direct contributions, 120,000; miscellaneous 
sources, 14,000; municipal rights, $4,000; contribution 
of twenty-five per cent, to Federal district, $27,000. 
Pulque shops are scarce, there being only three, besides 
one lithographer, one public garden, two photographers, 
one dentist, four established cigarette manufactories, and 
one lottery, for it is impossible to find a Mexican town 
without. There are no Americans in the -town, except 
those who belong to the railroad. 

Many things of interest are to be seen in and around 
Orizaba. One who cares to climb can ascend the Oerro 
del Berrego and view the old ruins which mark the spot 
where the Mexicans were defeated during the French 
invasion, June 13, 1862. A little way out is Jalapilla, 
where Maximilian resided a short time after the French 
army had gone, and where he held the famous council to 
determine whether he should abdicate or not. One and 
a half miles south are large sugar plantations and mills. 
Besides, there are several waterfalls, between two and 
five miles distant, noted for their beauty and strange- 
ness; the Cascade Eincon Grande is about one mile east; 



134 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

the water lias a fall of over fifty feet, and all around is a 
luxuriant growth of vegetation, which helps to make 
the spot one of the prettiest in Mexico. Donn Tonardo 
Cordoba is a forty-foot fall, which disappears in a round 
hole in the earth, falling to a depth that has never been 
measured. 

Another thing interesting to foreigners are the old 
Spanish deeds, written on parchment during the time of 
Cortes. They can be seen at the register's office by giv- 
ing the man in charge two reals for his trouble. On 
Sunday afternoon bull-fights are held in an old convent, 
and what was once a fine church is now the barracks for 
a garrison and hall for the Masonic lodge. 

Many people have a fancy to climb the peak of Orizaba, 
which is 17,200 feet high. It requires but five hours of 
a good climb to reach the summit. The last eruptions 
it had were in 1545 and 1566. Several times it has. been 
reported smoking, but the rumors were finally, on in- 
vestigation, pronounced unfounded. The well-to-do peo- 
ple occupy one and two-story houses with overhanging 
and tile roofs, while the poor class consti'uct their man- 
sions out of old boards, sugar cane stalks, barrel staves, 
pieces of matting, sun-dried bricks, and thatch them 
with palm leaves and dried strips of maguey. Their 
floor is always the ground. The highest temperature in 
the shade at Orizaba is 30 deg., the lowest 12 deg., but 
the average is mostly 21 deg., with always an east wind 
prevailing. 

Orizaba is a delightful place for a stranger to stroll 
about in. We started out to see the town without guide 
or companion, and felt ourselves fully repaid by the many 
strange and delightful things we saw. 

We went to the market, which is situated on an open 
square, and examined all the curious things. The birds 
especially attracted our attention, the many varieties, 
colors and shapes, and the extremely low prices, some 
selling for a medio (6|- cents), others for a real. Young 
parrots were fifty cents, mocking-birds $1, and buglers, a 
bird shaped like the mocking-bird, but lighter in color and 
far superior in song, 12.50 and $3. All that restrains one 
from making a large investment is the fact that many 
cannot live in cages, as none know on what food they sub- 
sist, consequently they have to die. Little snow-white 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 135 

dogs, with bright black eyes and hair fine as silk, about 
three to five inches in length, sell for $2, while the famous 
Ohihuajiua dog, which weighs about half a pound when 
full grown, commands from $75 to llOO, since tourists 
have ruined the prices. 

Out by the unlucky Cathedral wo saw the hearse of 
the town. It is the shape of a coffin, held aloft by 
springs above four wheels. It is draped with crape and 
plumes. Two black mules, stuck with plumes on every 
available spot, draw it, and the driver, dressed in black 
with high hat decorated with a plume, handles the reins, 
perched on a small seat about four feet above the rest of 
the hearse. The coffin is slid in at the back or end like 
the case in which coffins are often hermetically sealed. 

Selecting a poor street, we started to make our way 
toward the mountains. On it we found a row of houses 
numbered in the following style: January 1, February 2, 
March 3, April 4, May 5, June 6, July 7, August 8, Sep- 
tember 9, October 10, November 11, "December 12. Still 
further down we saAV one called '^ The place of Provi- 
dence,^^ each different door designated as " The place of 
Providence A, the place of Providence B,^' and so on 
throughout the alphabet. Next we came to a laundry 
which did not remind us in the least of those at home. 
The river was the tub, a porous stone the washboard, 
and the little bushes and green bank the clothesline. In 
this manner all the washing of the town is done. We 
admired the washwomen for quite a while as they rubbed 
the clothes on the stone and then doused them up and 
down in the stream. 

At last we concluded to jump across and go down on 
the other side, but we forgot we were women and that 
the dress of last fall was extremely narrow. We jumped 
from one washboard to another."^ We landed on it all 
right, but we did not stay long, but slipped back into 
the water, which Avas about three feet deep, much to our 
consternation. On our way home we stopped at the 
Tivoli, the bath-house and the main alameda, which is 
situated at the foot of an immense mountain, and is said 
to be one of the prettiest in the republic. The walks 
and drives are wide and nicely paved, a great variety of 
trees furnish the shade and musical fountains are jolenti- 
ful, A nmsio stand ia in the cejiter aii4 Js occupied 



186 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO,] 

nightly by a good band. The water-carriers were get- 
ting their supply from one of the large basins; they were 
also different from others we have seen. They have a 
long pole across their shoulders, and susj)ended from each 
dnd is a bucket containing the water, after the style of 
the milkmaids in the States. It seems strange that 
though every city has its water-carriers and that every 
one in the same tovrn carries exactly alike, yet in no two 
towns do they carry in the same manner. 

I cannot forget to introduce you to the pleasant gen- 
tleman we met on the train. He is Mr. A. Baker, Her 
Britannic Majesty^s Consul at Vera Cruz. He speaks 
fluently fifteen different languages, and when I asked 
him if he was not very proud of the fact, he replied: 
"Yes, until I met a waiter in a restaurant who could 
speak eighteen."" He is a widower, and came here ac- 
companied by his only son, while his three daughters are 
at school in Europe. The common expression made of 
him here is, that " he is good enough for an American.-" 
Now you can judge how agreeable he is. He has been 
knighted three different times, and was colonel in two 
different armies, yet he is still plain Mr. Baker. '^ Oh, 
I had ancestors," lie said, jokingly, as we were discussing 
people's little vanities, '^^and they came over in the ship 
of the conquerors, also. My forefather was a cook. One 
day the bread was exhausted, and there was no way to 
procure more, so the cook made some pancakes, and 
waited in terror while they were taken in to his majesty. 
At last he got a summons to appear before him; trembling 
and expecting to be beheaded, the poor fellow sank at 
his sovereign's feet, when, instead of a sentence to be 
executed, he heard: ^Rise, Sir -Baker.^ Since then that 
has been the family name." 

Accompanied by Mr. Baker, we started north to see a 
waterfall, and to take the train at the next station. We 
got in a car and went winding in between the high 
mountains from which the black marble is quarried un- 
til we reached a stretch of land, where we alighted and 
crossed the fields until we came to that wonderful stream. 
The water is quite cold and mineral, and as clear as 
crystal, one being able to see the bottom at the depth of 
twenty feet as though there was no water intervening. 
Down wli^re tJje water was more shallow were several 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 137 

liorses fishing for the grass that grows in the bottom; 
they thrust in their heads until their eyes were in the wa- 
ter, and then pulled out a mouthful of grass; they made 
a beautiful picture. Baths are situated here, and trees 
grow around just plentiful enough to be pretty. Foot 
logs span the stream, and the cool, green, velvety plots 
invite a longer stay. 

On one foot log we discovered what appeared to be 
walking leaves, as the green leaves glided along, moved ; 
by an unseen power. Investigation proved them to be 
an army of ants, each one carrying a leaf on its back 
which looked like a little sail. On the edge of the bank, 
half in the water, half out, lay a branch of willow. These 
little things climbed it, risking life and limb, and, cut- 
ting off a leaf, hoisted it on their backs and marched 
easily a quarter of a mile to their home. They had a 
path of road about five inches wide made along the grass 
all the distance. The street cleaners must be faithful, 
as it was as clean as could be, shaded on either side by 
the grass, without one blade in their way. They crossed 
the foot log and disappeared in a hole at the other end. 
We wondered what they were making inside with those 
many leaves. They were so interesting at their work that 
it was with reluctance we left them. Boarding our train, 
with much regret, we were soon lost to sight of the Val- 
ley of Orizaba and were once more on our way to a new 
and strange city. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE VTOi^^DERS OF PUEBLA. 

If the innocent-looking tourists believed all that is told 
them here they would conclude that every spot and town 
of interest had been built by the Virgin and the angels. 
One night many, many years ago, so the story runs, one 
good priest, who was known by the name of Motolinia, 
which means humble, mean, lowly, had a vision. A 
number of sweet angels — all of the feminine gender — 
draped with some soft, thin material, with long, silky 
black hair that fell to their feet in heavy folds, and 
sparkling black eyes, took the good father in their arms 
and bore him through the air to a spot not far distant from 
his little hut. After setting up a stone cross, which, at 



138 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

their petition, apparently descended from the skies, they 
helped him to build churches, houses, factories, and bull- 
rings (perhaps). It took seven days and the same num- 
ber of nights to build the world, but the city of Puebla 
was built in a few moments. Probably the fatigue from 
work or the unusual company made the good man tired 
and drowsy, so he fell asleep, as sweetly as a babe, fanned 
by the wings of the heavenly beings around him. Waking 
from a most refreshing nap, in which he had dreamed of 
honey, golden crotvns, feathered wings, and regiments of 
beautiful creatures, he found to his surprise that he was 
once again in his little bed, with no angels in sight. 
^' They have gone out to complete the work, while I, 
lazy creature, slept," thought the good father, and going 
to the window he flung it open. He saw the green plain 
undisturbed. 

At first he was surprised and disappointed, and had he 
been a dyspeptic all would have ended there, and this 
story would not have to be told; but, like a good and 
faithful believer, he worked out a solution of the strange 
vision, which was that the angels had appeared to show 
they wanted the work done and how, but he must ac- 
complish it himself. To prove beyond doubt their visit, 
the stone cross was left standing where their angelic 
hands had placed it. So encouraged, and with great 
faith, he related his vision to the people, and with their 
aid began to build the city of Puebla around the stone 
cross, leaving more than a square vacant where it stood. 
This was three hundred and fifty-five years ago, on the 
16th of April. The square is now used for the city mar- 
ket, and the stone cross, revered and respected, is stand- 
ing in the courtyard of what was the convent of Santo 
Domingo, but now a church, where at the same place 
they will take from the altar and show you a coat which 
was once worn by a very holy monk, and for some good 
act the Virgin stamped her picture on the sleeve of it. 
It is very interesting to look at, even if one be so unfort- 
unate as to possess but little faith; the most interesting 
thing in Puebla is its churches. Every one has some 
wonderful tale attached. 

Puebla was named in honor of its first visitors, Puebla 
de los Angles (Town of the Angels), but it is very seldom 
spoken of except as Puebla. The corner-stone of the 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 139 

first cliurcli was laid in 1531, and that of the first cathe- 
dral in 1536. Both of these buildings have disappeared, 
as they were originally, though it is proven that part of 
the former is the present Sagrario, covered with parasites 
and in almost utter ruins. The present cathedral was 
finished in 1649, and is one of the finest and most ex- 
pensive in Mexico. One of its towers alone cost $100,000. 
The high altar, composed of Mexican marble and onyx, 
is one of the finest ever constructed. It is said to have 
cost 1200,000. This altar, before the reform, was loaded 
with gold, silver, and jewels. The bishops' sepulcher is 
beneath. A beautiful carving in ivory of the Virgin, 
which was completed after three years' hard labor, and 
a wonderful curtain, which was a present from the King 
of Spain, as well as the dungeons beneath, are a few of 
the things worth seeing. It has eighteen bells. The 
largest weighs nine tons. 

The Chapel of Oonquistadora contains an image of the 
Senora de los Eemedios, which was presented by Cortes 
to the Hascallan, Don Axotecatl Cocomitzin, for his good 
help and friendship during the time of the bitter war 
with the other natives. Upon the main altar lie the re- 
mains of the man who first introduced oxen into Mexico, 
and who for many years was the means of passage and 
communication between Mexico and Vera Cruz. His 
name was Sebastian de Aparicio. He was born in 1502, 
and died, after living a good and useful life, in 1600. At 
the Dominican Monastery they showed half the handker- 
chief on which the Virgin wept and wiped her eyes at the 
foot of the cross. The people claim that San Jose pro- 
tects their town from lightning, so they built a church 
named in his honor, and have in it a strange image carved 
from what was a lightning-riven tree. Another beautiful 
church has a picture of a saint which has been heard to 
speak. Still another contains thorns from the crown of 
Christ. N'early every two squares boasts a church, and 
every church has some wonderful history connected with 
it. The Church of San Francisco, which was founded 
by the good priest, Motolinia, the father of Puebla, was 
established a short time after the city, and is worth see- 
ing, if from nothing else than an architectural point of 
view. The choir is the most wonderful thing in exist- 
ence. It is flat and Jooks as though it would tumble down 



140 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

every moment; even the man who built it fled for fear it 
would fall, when taking out the supporting beams, and 
kill them all. The monks then decided to burn them 
down, and then if the choir fell no one would be hurt. 
Well, they burned and crumbled down, but the choir 
still remained firm, and does to this day, after at least 
two hundred and fifty years of constant use. 

Puebla is fully seventy miles from the City of Mexico 
and is the capital of the state of the same name. It is 
one of the cleanest and prettiest towns in the republic, 
and has at the least 80,000 inhabitants. It is full of in- 
teresting historical events. Cortes located here; General 
de Zaragoza won a victory over the French here on the 
5th of May, 1862, and General Diaz, now President, won 
a more brilliant victory and gained greater fame for him- 
self here in the war five years later, April 2, 18G7. Both 
events are celebrated in fine style every year. Puebla is 
not situated on the main line of the Vera Cruz line, but 
connects with a narrow gauge which i;uns to Apizaco, 
twenty-uine miles distant. It takes from 4:40 to 6:10 to 
make the trip, but one forgets the length of time by look- 
ing at the beautiful valley which surrounds them. When 
we were out a short distance, by looking back over the 
way we traveled, we saw between two large hills, sur- 
rounded by trees, flowers and rocks, the Cascade de) 
Molino de San Diego, showing just over the top of the 
falling waters a fine old stone mill inclosed with a variety 
of different green trees, all of which seem to be spring- 
ing out of the waters whose fall faces us. Next we pass 
the pretty little village of Santa Ana, interesting not only 
because it is named in honor of the old warrior, but for 
its people and the many odd things which they make so 
deftly and sell to passing tourists, Mexican drinks and 
ice cream, called agua a nieve (snow water), made simply 
by pouring sweetened and flavored milk over snow which 
is brought down from the Volcano Popocatapetl and the 
White Lady. 

Between here and our destination we can see by the 
door of every little Jiut a large clay object shaped some- 
what like an urn, taller even than the houses; they are, 
translated into English, '' Keepers/' and hold the water 
used by the people; they have no wells, as they carry 
their supply from a river many miles away, hemmed iu 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 14t 

on eitiier side by a deep bluff Although water is very 
scarce in the majority of places in Mexico, this is the 
only spot where one finds the keepers. Another town 
and we enter the city of Puebla, as it nestles down be- 
tween a chain of mountains like a kitten in the sun. 
With a view from some high tower, it looks like a flower 
garden, dotted here and there with picturesque houses. 
On the west is Popocatapetl.and Ixtaelhuatl, sending 
down an ever-cool and invigorating breeze, which plays 
with their snowy robes, and then descends into the 
green valley to salute the hot brows of mortals there 
with a kiss of health and happiness.. 

The coat of arms was given to Puebla by Charles V. of 
Spain, in July, 1538. Of the inhabitants thirty thou- 
sand seven hundred are men and thirty-seven thousand 
eight hundred and thirty women, besides more than thir- 
teen thousand people who work in public establishments, 
which number in all about one hundred. There are pa- 
per, cotton, flour and wax taper mills. The people are 
very religious, and fall on their knees when the bishop^s 
carriage passes, even if it is unoccupied. They have 
plenty of policemen at night, though nearly everybody 
has retired by 10 o^clock, and not only are they on the 
streets, but on the housetops. We saw the little red 
lanterns blazing forth from almost every other house, and 
being of an inquisitive turn we made inquiries and learned 
the above facts. They look very odd, and on a dark 
night one can see nothing but the red light gleaming 
forth like a danger signal. The policemen are all well 
armed, but it strikes an American that the lanterns are 
displayed so that their owners cannot accidentally get 
hurt. The city supports several free hospitals; the finest 
one was established a few years since, and is the best- 
building of the kind in Mexico. Three days after the 
death of Luis Eharo, a bachelor of considerable wealth, 
they found in his Bible a will leaving one hundred thou- 
sand dollars to build this home and one hundred thou- 
sand dollars to be invested and used to maintain the 
same. 

The three men named as executors — Clemente Lopez, 
A. P. Marin, and Y. Qutiores- -were all wealthy, but 
were to receive for managing and looking after the home, 
115,000 apiece; thi building alone was to cost 140^000, 



143 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

and after it was finished the contractor, E. Tamaris, 
would accept no pay and allowed the price to go back 
into the original sum. The building is marble^ the floor 
marble tile, the decorations carved onyx, and this pala- 
tial mansion is to-day the home of hundreds of poverty- 
stricken and deserted mothers and babies. When Mex- 
ico feels charitably inclined she does it on a grand 
scale — no half-way business, like in many places in the 
States. 

The houses here are generally two-story, with flat 
roofs, and fronts inlaid with highly glazed tile or else 
gaudily painted. All the windows facing the street have 
iron balconies, and all the courts are filled with flowers, 
birds and fountains. There were once seventy-two 
churches, nine monasteries and thirty nunneries, but the 
latter have been abolished, and, with the exception of a 
half dozen, they are used as churches. One is a round 
house for the engines, another formed the theater for the 
bull ring. There are but two small Protestant churches, 
which are not well attended. Since the rebellion there 
have been established 1800 schools, with an attendance 
of only 3G,000 children. The College of Medicine and 
Academy of Arts and Science are maintained at the ex- 
pense of the town, free to all who care to go. 

The famous pyramid of Cholula is but eight miles from 
the city. Street cars run out about four times a day and 
charge fifty cents, first-class, a trip. On the way we 
passed a large rock which has caused a sensation lately. 
It is about two hundred feet high and at the very least 
six hundred feet around the base. It looks very strange 
lying on an otherwise level green space for acres around. 
The stone is covered with parasitical orchids and ferns 
and has been known to the oldest natives by the name of 
Cascomate. ISTo one ever thought much about it except 
to wonder how such an immense rock got into an other- 
wise reckless spot. Some advanced the opinion that it 
had been thrown there during one of the eruptions of 
Popocatapeti, when it merited the name of ^^ the smoking 
mountain. •'■' A German who spends much of his time 
searching for the queer in Mexico thought one morning 
as he was taking a walk, about ten days ago, that he 
would climb to the top of this rock and take a view of 
the valley. The ascent was very difiQcult, but he per- 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 143 

severed and on reaching the top was surprised to find a 
big opening yawning at his feet. The stench coming 
from it was very strong, so lighting his strongest cigar, 
he began to investigate. The opening was about fifty 
feet in circumference, and easily the same depth. At the 
bottom were lying several skeletons. He quickly returned 
to town and reported his discovery, but so far no investi- 
gations have been made. One man who was talking over 
it said: ^^ Please do not put it in your paper, because 
Mexico has a nasty name for foreigners now. That 
stone,^^ he continued, ''was used by duelists to hide their 
victim^s body, and when the people perceived a stench 
they reported it to the police, who always investigated 
and had the body buried.^' 

''If that is true, why is it that everybody considers the 
find new and startling, and no one has come forth to say 
he knows what use it was put to before this? If the po- 
lice investigated and took out the bodies, why did they 
not have the hole filled up, and why are there so many 
skeletons in it at the present day?" 

He did not try to answer these questions, but only 
begged our silence. 

Oholula retains little of its old-time grandeur. At 
the commencement of the sixteenth century Cortes com- 
pared it, to the largest cities of Spain, but with the 
growth of Puebla it has diminished, until the present 
day it is but a small village. Its streets are broad and 
iinpaved, the houses one story with flat roofs, and there 
is little to attract one — although they have some few 
.manufacturers — except the world-famous pyramid and 
some of the old churches. One of these churches was 
formerly a fortification built by Cortes. It is a fine, 
massive stone building of immense size. Perfect cannon 
of medium size answer for water-spouts on the roof. In 
the door of the main entrance there are 375 nails, no two 
of which are alike. When the building was being erected 
there were many skilled blacksmiths in the vicinity. 
Each was desirous of showing his skill, so with chisel 
and hammer they made these long nails and presented 
them to the conqueror, making the door one of the 
strange things of Mexico. 

In another church near here, also erected at the com- 
mand of Cortes, is a black velvet altar cloth, with saints 



144 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

embroidered in gold all over it. The workmanship is 
exquisite, and some of the likenesses perfect. There is 
also a black velvet vestment embroidered in the same 
manner, which is only for use on holy week. They were 
both a present from Charles V., of Spain. The Bishop 
of Mexico has been anxious to obtain possession of them, 
and has repeatedly offered 13500 for the two pieces, but 
they refuse to sell at that price. This church is known 
as the Eoyal Chapel. Its architecture is very pretty, yet 
extremely odd. Every way one counts across the chapel 
gives seven arches — lengthwise, crosswise, corner wise, 
etc., the end is always the same — seven. In the center 
of this queer construction is a pure well, the waters of 
which are noted for their coolness, healing qualities and 
love charms. One strange fact about this church is that 
the morning following its dedication it fell to the ground 
completely demolished, but was immediately rebuilt. In 
this vicinity there are no less than twenty-nine churches, 
which can be counted, nestling within a very small space, 
from the pyramid, which is left for another chapter. 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

THE PYEAMID OF CHOLULA. 

The pyramid of Cholula is very disappointing to any 
one who has seen illustrations of it in histories of 
Mexico; there it is represented as a mass of steps, grow- 
ing narrower as they reach the top. At present it looks 
liko many of the other queerly-shaped hills which one 
sees so frequently in Mexico. Closer inspection shows 
there were once four stories to it, but it is now badly de- 
molished, and the trainway has cut through one side, 
damaging the effect. At present it is three thousand 
eight hundred and sixty feet around the base, although 
once it is said to have been one thousand four hundred 
and forty feet on each side, or four times that around 
the entire base. Some say its height is no more than 
two hundred feet, while others affirm it is at the very 
least five hundred feet high; the ascent is made by a 
Spanish stairway of hewed stone fifteen feet wide, and 
there is a second stairway of two hundred steps leading 
from the main one to the church door. 

The little church on top was first built by the Spaniards 



St^ MONTHS IN MEXICO. 145 

in the place of the temple called Quetzalcoate (the God 
of the air), bnilt by the Astecg. The church was first 
in the shape of a cross, but alterations have been made of 
late years, destroying entirely the original design. It 
was dedicated to the Virgin of the Kemedies, or Health 
— Senora de los Eemedios, and she is said to have pej- 
formed some wonderful miracles, at any rate her image 
is covered with tokens of her goodness. There is a desk 
in the church where they sell beads and measures of the 
Yirgin^s face, which are said to keep away the devil and 
Dring good luck to the wearer. A little tinseled charm 
on the beads contains some part of the Virgin^s garments, 
and when I, in a weak moment, asked the seller if he 
really meant it, I knew by his answer I had met George 
Washington, Jr. It was, ^'^ Senorita, I cannot lie.^' 

At places where the hill is dug away can be seen the 
layers of mud-brick, which proves undisputedly that the 
pyramid was really built. It is thought to have served 
as a cemetery as well as a place of worship. The Indians 
liave a tradition that when Cortes tarried at Oholula, a 
number of armed warriors plotted to fall suddenly upon 
the Spanish army and kill them all. Cortes may have 
had a suspicion, or a desire for more blood and more 
stolen wealth, for without the least warning, he attacked 
the citizens of Puebla and killed outright 6,000 besides 
terribly wounding thousands of others. When the road 
was being made from Puebla to Mexico they cut through 
the first story of the pyramid. In it was found ji square 
chamber, destitute of outlet, supported by beams of cy- 
press and built in an odd and remarkable manner. Curi- 
ous varnished and painted vases, idols in basalt and skele- 
tons were in it. The only conclusion offered was that it 
was either a tomb for burial or else the warriors who 
wanted revenge on the Spanish were by some means bur- 
ied in this hiding-place. The pyramid is now covered 
with grass, trees and orchids. 

Famous stone idols are found in this vicinity. In 
plowing the fields or digging holes they are turned up by 
scores, in all shapes and sizes; the tourist pays good 
prices for them, and the more sensational the story at- 
tached the higher the tariff; the guide at the hotel 
showed me a white arrow flint. He had bought it the 
^ay before at Cholula for a medio, and said he was going 



146 Six MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

to. daub it with chicken blood and sell it to the next 
party of tourists as a wonderful relic, which had been 
used on the sacrificial stone to kill thousands of people. 
He would tell them that the worshipers of the sun used 
to get a victim and the one who could send the arrow 
with this flint directly in the center of thevictim^s heart 
stood in favor with their god, the sun. At the depot, 
besides being bothered with at least twenty idol peddlers, 
a woman with a baby tried to make me buy it. She re- 
fused to sell to any one in the party, but coaxed me to 
take it, telling all its good qualities. It was good, very 
amiable, sympathetic and very precious. Partly to get 
rid of her I asked, '' How much?" " Dos reals" (twenty- 
five cents) was her astounding reply. ^' That is too 
cheap," I said; '^I cannot take it unless the price is 
$100." Evidently she did not understand jesting, for 
she kept on saying, '' No, senorita, dos reals; muy ben- 
ito." I successfully resisted its charms as well as her 
persuasions. At the last moment, when the car started, 
she ran after me, saying I could have the baby at 1100, 
if 1 wouldn't take it at twenty-five cents; but the car soon 
left her in the distance, and we had a good laugh at the 
poor woman's reasoning powers and lack of business qual- 
ities. 

The tramway ends at Atlixco, a lovely little village 
midway between Obolula and Puebla. One of the most 
beautiful things along the way is the famous tree at the 
foot of St. Michaers Mountain. It is called Ahuehuete. 
It is many centuries old and a very curious shape. Its 
trunk is hollow, with a hole big enough for a horseman 
to enter at one side. Thirteen men on horseback can 
find plenty of room in its big body. The orchards at 
this village are valued at $2,800,000. 

There are twenty-four hotels in Puebla, and some are 
first-class in every respect. They serve coffee from 6 to 
9, breakfast 1 to 3, and dinner 6 to 9. The penitentiary 
looks like a Spanish fortress. It is very old, picturesque, 
and covered with orchids, but the state authorities de- 
cided they needed a new one, and have built a handsome 
one of stone and brick, which is said to resemble one in 
Pennsylvania, whether East or West I know not, but 
from a distance it looks somewhat like the Western, al- 
though all similarity faded on closer inspection. There 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 147 

are several parks, and very pretty ones^ too, in Puebla. 
In the main one they have music nightly. At the east 
end of the town they have sulphur baths, which are con- 
sidered very healthy. 

The most unique bull-fights of the whole republic are 
held here. One Sunday they fought all afternoon in the 
regular style, but when evening came, they turned on the 
electric lights, set a table in the center of the ring, put 
on it tin dishes, and all the fighters sat down as though 
to eat, one of them attired in a long, white dress. As 
soon as they were seated comfortably the gate was flung 
open, and the toro rushed in. At the same moment two 
banderillas containing fire -rockets were stuck into him, 
and as they exploded the maddened bull made a rush for 
the table. The occupants jerked up the tinware, and 
with it began to fight off the bull. Then they jerked 
the table apart, and fought it with the pieces. When 
the men and beast were pretty tired, the bull was allowed 
to attack the one in white, the so-called bride, and the 
swordsman, who of course represented her husband, de- 
fended her, and killed the bull with one thrust of the 
sword. It was simply magnificent, and so exciting that 
everybody was standing on their feet yelling lustily at 
every new move. The fight was called '' The Interrupted 
Bridal Party. ^' 

The next Sunday they fought the bulls on burros in- 
stead of horses. The men had their bodies protected by 
plates of tin, and when the toro charged they jumped off 
the borro and ran behind screens, while the poor little 
animal had to run for his life, and that was the funniest 
part of the programme. The following Sunday all the 
fighters stuffed themselves. They looked as if they had 
feather beds around their bodies. Then they dressed up 
in fantastic garb. No horses were allowed in the ring. 
When the time came the men lay flat on their backs, and 
and as the door was opened and the bull came tearing in,_ 
they wiggled their legs in the air to attract its atten- 
tion. 

One peculiar feature of bull-fighting is that the bull 
will never attack a man's legs, but always strike for his 
body. The toro would rush for the prostrate form, and 
the American auditors would hold their breath, and think 



148 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

that the fighter^s end had come, but just then the bull 
would gore him in the stuffed part, and the man would 
turn a complete somersault, alighting always on his feet, 
safe and sound. The bull would turn those men into 
all sorts of shapes without either hurting them or him- 
self. 

Puebla is considered the richest State. in Mexico, and 
in it one can select any climate he desires. Puebla City 
is never cold, is never warm; it has the most delicious 
climate in the world, just the degree that must please 
the most fastidious; In the State are wonderful stone 
quarries. Every color of clay is used to make dishes, 
vases, and brick, and abundance of chalk for making 
lime. In the rivers and small streams several kinds of 
sand are secured, which is used for many purposes, and 
a few miles away are large veins of iron and other min- 
erals; there -are mountains of different varieties of 
marble and onj^x, from the transparent to the heaviest 
known; extensive fields of coal, quicksilver, lead, with 
wonderful mines of gold and silver everywhere; there is 
one strange mountain called Nahuatt (star) covered with 
rock crystal, the fragments resembling brilliant dia- 
monds, and at another craggy place beautiful emeralds 
are found. In many places are hot springs. 

The woods are fortunes in themselves. Besides all the 
Mexican varieties are cedar, ebony, mahogany, pine, oak, 
bamboo, liquid amber, India rubber, and above all the 
writing -tree, the wood of which has been 23ronounced the 
finest by five countries. Its colored veins are on a yellow- 
ish ground, and it forms thousands of strange figures, 
monograms, words and profiles. Then there are the silk 
cotton tree, the logwood and thousands of others. Some 
of them produce rich essences, others d3^es which never 
fade. A cactus also grows here from which wine is made 
which they say far excels that of Spain or Italy. In the 
cold and warm districts are raised cotton, tobacco, va- 
nilla, coffee, rice, sugar-cane, tea, wheat, aniseseed, barley, 
pepper. Chili beans, corn, peas, and all the fruits of the 
hot and cold zones. There are salt mines and land where 
cattle, horses, mules, burros, sheep, goats and pigs are 
raised on. an extensive scale. The flowers are so varied 
and abundant that a gentleman who has been exploring 
the paradise says their products would supply all the drug 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 149 

stores of the world with perfume. These are a few of 
the charms of the State of Piiebla. 

There is quite an interesting story connected with the 
emerald district. The Indians found one and placed it 
on the altar of the church to serve as a consecration 
stone. It was three-quarters of a Spanish yard, or a 
little over one-half English yard, in length. Maximilian, 
during his short reign, went to Puehla to examine it, 
and offered 11,000,000 for it the moment the jewel ex- 
pert with him pronounced it extremely fine. The In- 
dians refused, and asked $3,000,000. Afterward an 
armed force went to kill the tribe and carry off the gem, 
but were themselves whipped. The Indians then de- 
cided to bury it for safe keeping, when a wily Jesuit 
promised eternal salvation to the living, the dead, aud 
the unborn, if they would give it him in the name of the 
Holy Virgin, who, he said, had asked for it. The poor 
innocent and faithful wretches gave their immense fort- 
une away for a promise that was worse than nothing, and 
the treacherous purchaser cut it into small portions and 
sent it across the sea to be sold, he reaping the benefit. 
The god Quetzalcotl, which once graced the top of the 
pyramid at Oholula, was sold to an American a few years 
since for 136,000. 

A few miles out from the city, situated in the midst of 
a barren plain, stands the magnificent old castle of 
Perote, which is celebrated in Mexican history as the last 
home of many of her dark-eyed senoras, who have either 
pined to death in its dreary dungeons or been murdered 
during revolutions. It was once the national prison of 
the republic, and was considered one of the strongest 
buildings in the world. Even now it is stronger and 
more formidable than most fortresses. There is much 
more of interest, historical and otherwise^ to be seen in 
and around Puebla, and one could spend months of 
sight-seeing every day, and still have something worth 
looking at. If a gentleman or lady resident of Puebla 
is asked where their home is they will quickly answer, 
"I live in Puebla, but am not a Pueblaen.-'^ The latter 
word translated into Spanish means false and treacherous, 
hence the carefulness of the people always to add it. 

I cannot end this until I give you a sample of the 
meanness of the Mexicans, other than Indians. The 



150 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

real Mexican — a mixture of several nationalities — lias a 
great greed for cold casli, and thinks the Americano, 
Yankee, or gringo, was sent here to be robbed. They 
do not draw the line on Americans, but also rob the poor 
Indian of everything. When I asked for my hotel bill, 
which was 14 a day, the clerk handed me a bill with 
11.25 extra. ^^What is the extra for?"" I inquired. 
'^Charming senorita," he answered, ''you called for eggs 
two or three times."" ''Yes,"" I replied, "when you set 
down goat"s meat for mutton, and gave me strong beef I 
had seen killed by the matadore in the bull-ring tlie day 
before."" " Well,"" he continued, " eggs are expensive, 
and it was a trouble to cook them.'" " My dear senor, I 
have no intention of paying your salary, and your pocket 
is just minus an expected $1.25. Here is the other."" 
That settled it. 

While looking at some marble objects in a store a poor 
Indian came in with twelve blocks of marble twelve by 
twelve on his back; the poor fellow had hewn them 
smooth and then traveled undoubtedly two days or more" 
on foot over hills and through valleys, the ground at 
night his bed and the wild fruits or a few beans brought 
from home his food. He was ragged and tired, and 
dirty, but he had a good, honest look on his face. He 
asked the shopkeeper to buy the marble. After a little 
inspection the merchant purchased, and for it all, which 
was weeks of labor to the poor peon, and meant at least 
1300 for himself, he gave fifty cents. Nor was that the 
worst of it; the two quarters were counterfeit and the In- 
dian told him so, but he said no. I stepped to the door 
and watched the peon go to a grocer"s store across the 
street. They refused to take the money and he came 
back and told the marble dealer. Upon his refusing to 
give good money the Indian turned to me for help, where- 
upon the keeper laughed and said: "She is a Yankee 
and can't understand you."" 

Well, I had not been in Mexico long, and was entirely 
ignorant of the language, but my American love for jus- 
tice was aroused, and in broken English and bad Spanish 
I managed to tell him I knew the money was bad, and 
that the merchant was like the money— that by even giv- 
ing good money he was cheating the poor peon of his 
goods. He was surprised, that is if a Mexican can be 



JSTX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 151 

surprised, and he gave out some little change, which I 
examined, and not being sure whether it was good or bad, 
put it into my own purse, giving the man a quarter in- 
stead. He thanked me warmly, tied the money up in the 
corner of a rag he had tied around his waist, and then 
went out and tried the other quarter. This also failed to 
pass, and he returned to the now furious storeman, who 
threatened to call the police if he did not go away. " If 
you do,^^I will tell them that you are passing counterfeit 
money,'' I said, whereupon he gave the peon another 
piece, and the poor fellow departed happy. While the 
storekeeper said some nasty things in Spanish about 
" Grmgos,'' it is needless to add I did not buy, nor had 
he the least desire to sell to me. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

A FEW KOTES ABOUT MEXICAN PKESIDEiq-TS. 

Very few people outside of the Republic of Mexico 
have the least conception of how government affairs are 
run there. The inhabitants of Mexico— at least it is so 
estimated— number 10,000,000 souls, 8,000,000 being 
Indians, uneducated and very poor. This large majority 
has no voice in any matter whatever, so the government 
is conducted by the smaller, but so-called better class. 
My residence in Mexico of five months did not give me 
ample time to see all these things personally, but I have 
the very best authority for all statements. Men whom I 
know to be honorable have given me a true statement of 
facts which have heretofore never reached the public 
prints. That such things missed the public press will 
rather astonish Americans who are used to a free press; 
but the Mexican papers never publish one word against 
the government or officials, and the people who are at 
their mercy dare not breathe one word against them, as 
those m position are more able than the most tyrannical 
czar to make their life miserable. When this is finished 
the worst is yet untold by half, so the reader can form 
some idea about the Government of Mexico. 

President Diaz, according to all versions, was a brave 
and untiring soldier, who fought valiantly for his beau- 
tiful country. He was born of humble parents, his father 



M I^IX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

being a horse dealer, or sometliing of that sort; but he 
was ambitions, and gaining an education entered the 
field as an attorney- at-law. Although he mastered his 
profession, all his fame was gained on the battle-field. 
Perfirio Diaz is undoubtedly a fine-looking man, being 
what is called a half-breed, a mixture of Indian and 
Spaniard. He is tall and finely built, with soldierly 
bearing. His manners are polished, with the pleasing 
Spanish style, compelling one to think — while in his 
presence — that he could commit no wrong; the brilliancy 
of his eyes and hair is intensified by the carmine of cheek 
and whiteness of brow, which, gossip says, are put there 
by the hand of art. Diaz has been married twice — first 
to an Indian woman, if I remember rightly, who left him 
with one child, and next to a daughter of the present Sec- 
retary of the Interior, Manuel Romero Rubio. She is 
handsome, of the Spanish type, a good many years 
younger than the president, and finely educated, speak- 
ing Spanish, French and English fluently. Mrs. Diaz 
has no children, but is step-mother to two — a daughter 
and a son of the president. The president, so far as 
rumor goes, follows not in the footsteps of his country- 
men, has no more loves than one, and is really devoted 
to Mrs. Diaz. 

There are two political parties, a sort of a Liberal and 
Oonservative concern, but if you ask almost any man not 
in an ofi&cial position he will hesitate and then explain 
that there are really two parties; that he has almost for- 
gotten their names, but he has never voted, no use, etc. 
Juarez, who crushed Maximilian, while a good president 
in some respects, planted the seeds of dishonesty when 
he claimed the churches and pocketed the spoils there- 
from. Every president since then has done what he 
could to excel Juarez in this line. When Diaz first took 
the presidency he had the confidence and respect of the 
people for his former conduct. They expected great 
things of him, but |)raise in a short time was given less 
and less freely, and the people again realized that their 
savior had not yet been found. When his term drew near 
a close, his first bite made him long for more, and he 
made a contract with Manuel Gonzales to give him the 
presidency if he would return it at the end of his time, 
as the laws of Mexico do not permit a president to be his 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 153 

own successor, but after the expiration of another term 
(four years) he can again fill the position. 

Tiie constitution of Mexico is said to excel, in the way 
of freedom and liberty to its subjects, that of the United 
States; but it is only on paper. It is a republic only in 
name, being m reality the worst monarchy in existence. 
Its subjects know nothing of the d alights of a presiden- 
tial campaign; they are men of a yoting age, but they 
have never indulged in this manly pursuit, which even 
our women are hankering after. No two candidates are 
nominated for the position, but the organized ring 
allows one of its members— whoever has the most power 
— to say who shall be president; they can vote, though 
they are not known to do so; they think it saves trouble, 
time, and expense to say at first, ^^this is the president,^' 
and not go to the trouble of having a whole nation come 
forward and cast the votes, and keep the people in 
drunken suspense for forty-eight hours, while the man- 
agers miscount the ballots, and then issue bulletins stat- 
ing that they have put in their man; then the self-ap- 
pointed • president names all the governors, and divides 
with them the naming of the senators; this is the ballot 
in Mexico. 

Senor Manuel Gonzales readily accepted Diaz's propo- 
sition and stepped into the presidency. He had also 
been a loyal soldier, and was as handsome as Diaz, though 
some years his senior. Gonzales is a brave man, power- 
fully built, but was so unfortunate as to lose his right 
arm in battle. He has, however, learned to write with 
his left in a large, scrawling style. He has a legal wife, 
from whom, however, he is separated. While he was 
filling the presidential chair she made a trip through the 
United States, and gained some notoriety by being put 
out of the Palmer House because she did not pay bills 
contracted there on the strength of being the wife of the 
President of Mexico. On her return to the land of the 
Aztecs, she found that the law could not touch the Czar 
Gonzales, who was living like a king, nor could she get a 
divorce, as Mexico does not sanction such luxuries. She 
started a sewing establishment, but it is said that she is 
living in abject poverty, and, like all Mexican women, 
with the door to the way of gaining an honest livelihood 
barred against her because of her sex. 



154 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

Their family consists of two sons, both captains in the 
army — Manuel, twenty- seven years old, and Fernando, 
twenty-five — fine-looking and well educated. The latter 
is said to be quite good to his mother. It is reported 
that Manuel Gonzales and Miss Diaz, the only daughter 
of the president, are to be married shortly. 

Gonzales while in power issued several million dollars' 
worth of nickel money, which the people refused to ac- 
cept. One day, as he was being driven from the palace 
in an open carriage, he was surrounded by a mob who 
threw bags of the coin on him, while others cried out for 
his life. The driver — who, by the way, was at that time 
the only negro in the City of Mexico — fiercely fought 
those who had stopped his team and resisted bj main 
force their efforts to unseat him. He wanted to drive 
the fine-blooded horses right over the angry, howling 
mob, but Gonzales calmly told him to desist, and then, 
revolver in hand, descended from the carriage, asked the 
people what they wanted, swore roundly at them and 
commanded them to disperse. 

The effect was astonishing. Without one outburst, as 
though quelled by an immense army, that maddened 
mob moved away and Gonzales re-entered his carriage 
triumphantly, and was driven home unmolested and un- 
injured. The money, however, was sold for almost noth- 
ing, and some Europeans were smart enough to buy. In 
a short time the government bought it all back, paying 
cent for cent, and I know personally one man who made 
$100,000 in one day on his lot. In truth, it was the 
foundation of more than twenty fortunes in Mexico at 
the present time. Eight months before Gonzales retired 
he tried to force the people to accept the English debt 
law. They refused, and filled the halls of Congress, in 
which they had congregated, with cries and groans. 
They woald not cease at the presidential command, and 
Gonzales ordered the soldiers to fire on them several 
times. It was impossible that in such a narrow space all 
should escape death, yet no true report was ever made of 
the affair. 

When Gonzales went into office 1900,000 could be 
counted in the treasury. On the last day of his term his 
annual income exceeded $200,000 and his salary, which 
was $30^000 jesiilj. On the morning of his last daj he 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 155 

sent to the treasurer to know how much money vet re- 
named m the treasury. -One hundred thousand dol- 
lars was the reply. Gonzales requested that it be sent 
to him and when tlie treasurer meekly hinted that it 
might be good for his neck to know to whom to charge 
It, Gonzales replied that if he did not know that much 
he had better send m his resignation. The money was 
m the president's hand in a very short time after this 
^ext he bought a $2 ticket from the state national 
ottery and with it sent a little line to the managers, 
bee that this draws the prize to-day." The first prize 
was 1100,000. Strange to relate his tioket drew^the 
lortunate number, and Gonzales closed his eyes that 
night with a murmur like Monte-Cristo as he gazed upon 
the sea, - The world is mine!" That evening the people 
were so glad that they gathered in an impassable mob 
around the palace and cathedral, and tried to enter the 
latter, ttiat they might proclaim their feelings by ring- 
ing forth from the numerous bells which hang in the 
mammoth towers, one happy peal; but an army was soon 
on the spot and prevented any demonstration. Investi- 
gation showed 1^^5,000,000 missing and the government 
employes unpaid. 

^ Experts figure out that Gonzales raked in 125,220 000 
m his four years of official life, and he didn^t have to ^0 
to Canada, either. Gonzales immediately went to Guana- 
juato as governor, where he was received with open arms 
and when the people, who found the bank broke iust as 
they expected to take it, began to whisper that they would 
like a httle investigation, Gonzales swore he would spend 
every cent they were clamoring after in raising an army 
to overthrow the Diaz Government. On hearing this 
Diaz slunk off like a half-drowned cat and made a law 
which went into effect June 22, 1886, taking a percent- 
age off every government employe to help pay up the 
Gonzales deficiency. ^ "^ ^ 

Gonzales is modest; he don^t want the presidency any 
more. He wisely invested his hard-earned cash m an 
estate His palaces and haciendas are something won- 
derful for size, beauty, and furnishment. Of course 
giye a man a bad name and everything mean is laid at 
his door; but it is credited to him that he took a fancy 
to a yery rich hacienda, and he told the owner he would 



156 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

give him $200^000. The haciendado said it had belonged 
to his family since the time of Cortes, and he had not the 
least desire to sell, besides it was at the very least worth 
$2,000,000. Immediately all sorts of evil fell upon the 
unhappy owner. His horses were shot, his cattle, water, 
and even family poisoned. At last, when hope was 
crushed, G-onzales accidentally reappeared, and told the 
heart-broken man that he would give him 110,000 for 
this place. The hacienda was immediately his, but the 
former owner is still looking for his money. The strange 
part is that Gronzales has not suffered the afflictions vis- 
ited upon the former owner. 

President Diaz has two years from next December to 
serve, that is, providing a revolution does not cut his 
term short. The people Avill not say much about his 
going out, as one just as bad will replace him. They al- 
ways know one year in advance who the president is to 
be, and even at the present date it lies between Diaz's fa- 
ther-in-law, Eomerio Rubio, or Mier Teran, Governor of 
Oaxaca, both of whom belong to the ring. Diaz fears a 
revolution, and is afraid of losing his life. It is said he 
hastened his removal to Ohapultepec because they threat- 
ened to blow up his house on Oalle de Oadena, 'No. 8, 
with dynamite. Last January a party of Eevolutionists 
laid plans to overthrow the Diaz Government, but one 
fellow got into a controversy with a Diaz party while rid- 
ing on the Pasio, and so they came to blows, the news got 
abroad and armies paraded through the streets of Mexico 
until the poor little body of ^' righters " were overawed 
by the demonstration. Gonzales is sixty-five years old. 
He gets along nicely as Governor of Guanajuato, having 
no duties and being looked up to as a king by the peo- 
ple. When he comes to Mexico for a few days they pre- 
pare expensive receptions for his return. They are his 
humble subjects, and he is satisfied to be king of that 
state. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

MEXICAiq" SOLDIEKS Al^D THE RUEALES. 

El Mexicako thinks it would be one of the pleasant- 
est, as well as one of the easiest, things in the world to 
whip the '' Griugoes," while the latter, with their heads 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 157 

a little swelled, perhaps, imagine otherwise, and scoff at 
the idea of the '^Greasers" winning even one battle in 
the event of war. Be that as it may, solid, unvarnished 
facts will prove to the most headstrong that the advan- 
tage is mostly on the other side. 

The standing army in Mexico is said to number forty 
thousand men, but is believed to be more. Every little 
village of a few hundred people has its army, and every 
day that army is being increased; the officers range from 
those who have gained experience and fame on the battle- 
field to the young ones reared and trained in military 
colleges; they are mostly all of what is considered the 
highest class of people in Mexico. 

The rank and file are mostly half-breeds or Indians, 
who are not by any means volunteers. They are nearly 
all convicts. When a man is convicted of some misde- 
meanor he is enlisted in the regular army, separated 
from his home, and to serve the rest of his natural life. 
This life is not a bed of roses — there is no bed at all, and 
out of a medio (0|- cents) a day, he has to furnish his 
food and comforts. The dress uniform is made of 
coarse woolen goods, with yellow stripes on the sleeves; 
and the undress uniform, which is worn constantly ex- 
cept on review days, is but white muslin, pants, waist 
and cap. 

Some of the Indians are stolen and put in the army, 
and they immediately resign themselves to their fate, for 
there is no more escape for them than there is from 
death. 

The wives of these poor fellows are very faithful, and 
very often follow the regiment from one place to another; 
they live on what nature grows for them and what they 
can beg or steal; the men are called in Spanish '^^solda- 
dos,^^ and the women, because they cling to their hus- 
bands, ''soldadas.'' It looks very pitiful to see a poor 
Indian woman with a babe tied to her back and one cling- 
ing to her skirts, dusty, hungry and footsore, trayeling 
for miles through the hot sun with the regiments. 

These soldados are wonderfully hardy; they can travel 
for a week through the hot sun, with nothing to drink 
and but a spoonful of boiled beans and one' tortillia — a 
small flat cake — for two days' rations, sleep on the ground 
at night, and be as fresh for service as a well-kept mule. 



158 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

Fight! well those who imagine it such an easy thing to 
whip them should stand off and witness some of their 
feats first; they love their country, and consider life well 
lost in defense of it; they are ignorant, it is true, but 
seem- the more courageous for it. When told to fight, 
they go at it with as much vigor as a bull dog after a cat; 
they don^t know why they are fighting, or for what, but 
it is their rule and custom to obey, not to reason why. 
If you would stop one soldier in the midst of his fight- 
ing and ask: '^ Why are you fighting?" he would an- 
swer in the characteristic words of his people, " Quien 
sabe?" 

If a man is silly enough to try to escape from this 
bondage he is immediately shot, or if he disobeys orders 
they have time but to punish him with death. A short 
time before leaving Mexico some guards at the prison 
tried to desert, and immediately every regiment was 
notified to be on the lookout, and others were sent out to 
recapture them, and as soon as. found they were shot. 
The soldiers have an herb named marijuana, which they 
roll into small cigaros and smoke. It ^oroduces intoxica- 
tion which lasts for five days, and for that period they 
are in paradise. It has no ill after-effects, yet the use is 
forbidden by law. It is commonly used among prisoners. 
One cigaro is made, and the prisoners all sitting in a ring 
partake of it. The smoker takes a draw and blows the 
smoke into the mouth of the nearest man, he likewise 
gives it to another, and so on around the circle. One 
cigaro will intoxicate the whole lot for the length of five 



The Mexican officers are unpleasantly sarcastic, or 
rather they have a custom that is the extreme of irony. 
It is known as la ley fuga (the law of escape). They will 
tell you they are going to take a prisoner, or soldier, as 
the case may be, out to the suburbs to give him a chance 
to escape. It sounds very pleasant to the stranger. They 
will, for example, politely ask the railway conductor to 
stop the train in some quiet place, as they want to let a 
prisoner escape. The American conductor finds his heart 
warming within him for tliese generous officers, and 
quickly and gladly obeys. The train is stopped, they all 
get off, and the officers form in a single line, with guns 
raised to the shoulders. The prisoner is placed before 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 159 

them and told to Vamos. He gives one glance into their 
unchanging faces, the surrounding land, and then starts. 
That moment he falls to the earth riddled with a dozen 
bullets, and the executioners re-enter the train and are 
speeding fast away, almost before the echo of this fatal 
volley died away. They cannot waste time putting his 
body beneath the ground, but before long some Indians, 
traveling that way, find it. He is one of them, and their 
turn may be next, so they lay him in a hastily-dug hole, 
erect a wooden cross at the end, murmur a prayer, and 
leave him to return to that from which he sprung. This 
is the merciful " law of escape" practiced daily in Mex- 
ico. 

Once every year to commemorate the victory over the 
French on the 5tli of May, 1862, the president reviews 
all the troops. They flock to the city from mountain, 
valley, town, and city, clad in holiday attire. Then only 
one realizes their strength, as they march before the pal- 
ace where the president is seated on the balcony. The 
finest looking men in the whole 40,000 are the rurales. 
They number 6000 and are larger men than Mexicans 
usually are. 

These rurales are a band of outlaws who came forward 
with their chief and aided Diaz during the war. When 
it was over Diaz recognized their power, and was so afraid 
of them that he offered them a place in the army, with 
their chief as general, and they are to-day not only the 
best paid, but — speaking of their fighting ability — the 
best men in Mexico. In the first place they are large 
and powerful and known over the entire country, mount- 
ain, town, and valley, as thoroughly as we know our A, 
B, 0. They fear nothing on earth, or out of it, and 
will fight on the least provocation. They would rather 
fight than eat, and have a great aversion to exhibiting 
themselves, as they demonstrated on the 5th of May last, 
when only 800 could be persuaded to participate. 

They have their own bands and a number of buglers. 
Every man owns his horse, which must in color match 
that of the rest of the regiment. Their uniform is yel- 
low buckskin, elaborately embroidered with silver and 
gold, upon the pants and on the back, front and sleeves 
of the short cutaway jacket. Their wide sombrero is the 
fame color, ^nished with the same embroidery and a 3il- 



160 SIX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. 

ver cord and tassel. Their saddles also match their suits 
in color and silver finish. How they ride! It is simply 
perfection. The horse and rider seem to be one. 

I don^t think they con Id carry any more weapons if 
they tried. Each man has a good carbine, a sword, two 
revolvers, the same number of daggers and two lassos, 
and they fight with any or all of these weapons. They 
fight very cleverly with the lasso. If they wish to take a 
prisoner — a very unusual proceeding on their part — they, 
with the rope, can either lasso man and horse together or 
two or more men. The other lasso is of wire, which not 
only catches the fugitive, but knocks him senseless or 
cuts his head off, as the case may be. 

These rurales guide tourists through the interior and 
also attend all public places to keep order; they receive 
one dollar a day, which is enormous compared with the 
other soldiers' ^a.j of six and one-quarter cents. They 
have their horses in perfect control, and can make them 
execute all kinds of movements in a body, while the tricks 
performed by individual horses are numberless. 

The Mexicans have a good deal of suppressed wrath 
bothering them at the present day; they know that Diaz 
is a tyrannical czar, and want to overthrow him. It may 
be readily believed that Diaz knows they are bound to 
get rid of this superfluous feeling, and he would much 
rather have them vent its strength on the Americans than 
on himself; thus he stands on the war question. He is 
a good general, and has many good, tough old soldiers, 
the best of whom is ex-President Gonzales, to aid him, 
besides the convict soldiers and the rurales. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE PRESS OF MEXICO. 

The press of Mexico is like any of the other subjects 
of that -monarchy, yet it is a growing surprise to the 
American used to free movement, speech and print who 
visits Mexico with the attained idea that it is a republic. 
Even our newspapers have been wont to clip from the lit- 
tle sheets which issue from that country, believing them, 
untrammeled, and quoting them as the best authority, 
when, in truth, they are but tools of the organized ring; 
and are only capable of deceiving the outsider. 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 161 

In the City of Mexico there are about twenty-five news- 
papers published, and throughout the empire some few, 
which are perused by the smallest possible number of peo- 
ple. The Mexicans understand thoroughly how the 
papers are run, and they consequently have not the slight- 
est respect in the world for them. One can travel for 
miles, or by the day, and never see a man with a news- 
paper. They possess such a disgust for newspapers that 
they will not even use one of them as a subterfuge to hide 
behind in a street car when some woman with a dozen 
bundles, three children and two baskets is looking for a. 
seat. 

The best paper in Mexico is Ul Monitor RepuUicano 
(the Republican Monitor), which claims to have, in the 
city, suburbs, and United States, a circulation of five 
thousand. It is printed entirely in Spanish. The Mexi- 
can Financier is a weekly paper — filled with advertise- 
ments from the States — which is published in English 
and Spanish, and is bought only by those who want to 
learn the Spanish language, yet it is the best English 
paper in Mexico. Another English paper is published 
by an American, Howell Hunt, in Zacatecas, but it, like 
the rest, is of little or no account. One of the newsiest, 
if not the newsiest, is El Tiempo (tho Times), which is 
squelched about every fortnight, as it is anti-govern- 
mental. 

Very few have telegraphic communication with the 
outside world, and none whatever with their own coun- 
try. They mostly clip and translate items from their ex- 
changes, heading them "Special telegrams," etc., when 
in reality they are from eight to ten days old. El Monitor 
RepuUicano steals from its exchanges first and the other 
papers copy from it. Not a single paper has a reporter. 
Two men are considered plenty to clip and translate for 
a daily, and it is not unusual for them to borrow type to 
set the paper. All the type-setting is done in the day- 
time and a morning paper is ready for sale — if anybody 
wanted it — the afternoon before. While our morning 
newspapers allow their brains to rest at 5 A. m., the Mexi- 
can brethren cease labor the day before at 4 p. m. 
Things happening on the streets, which would make a 
" display head " with us, are never even mentioned by 
them. One day I saw a woman fall dead two s(|uares 



162 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

away from a newspaper office, and after a long time read 
in the same paper: ^' One of onrresj)ected contemporaries 
is authority for the story than an unknown Indian woman 
dropped dead on the street about two weeks ago/^ It 
needed no label ^^ castanado " (chestnut). For a time 
the papers imagined they had an item. 

There was an old Frenchman who made some sort of 
taffy and with it used to perambulate the streets crying, 
'' Piruli.^' The English paper came out quoting a notice 
of this old fellow. In a few days they quoted another to 
the effect that the old fellow had died of smallpox. 
Then, after using space for one entire week, changing 
every other day the cause of the old nian^s death and sub- 
stituting some new disease, the learned editor stated that 
according to all reports the old fellow was not dead at 
all, but had charmed some rich Mexican widow with his 
musical voice — or taffy — and was enjoying a honeymoon 
on her bank account. We even did not get peace with 
that, but in a few days they declared the report false and 
gave a new version. When we left there, five months 
later, they were still contradicting themselves about the 
old taffy-peddler. 

Quite as bad was their treatment of a small forest fire 
located about twenty miles from the city. I was at the 
village at the time, and was quite amuyed, when the fires 
were extinguished after eight hours' burning, to read for 
two weeks after contradictory stories on it. It Avas still 
raging with renewed energy — hundreds of lives had been 
lost, etc., until one morning the English paper said: 
^^ According to a letter received at this office yesterday, 
the forest fire only lasted a few hours, and our contem- 
poraries, from whom we have been quoting, have made a 
big mistake. No lives were lost."*' 

When a new member was added to the royal family of 
Spain the notice was clipped from a foreign paper, in 
which it stated clearly that the Queen Regent Christina 
had given birth to a boy baby. Yet it was headed: *'Is 
it a Boy?'' When it grew a little colder than usual in an 
interior town, they headed the item: " A Mexican Town 
in Danger." When Eos well P. Flower, of New York, 
returned from his trip to Mexico he was interviewed by 
some reporter, and while ho said nothing in Mexico's 
favor he said nothing against it; so they headed the 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 168 

clipping: ^' He Loves Mexico." Moralizing is quite cus- 
tomary, at least with the English paper. After quoting 
an item from La Patria about a married pair quarreling 
so fiercely that the mother-in-law took bilious fever and 
died, it gave a sermon entitled: "Let not your angry 
passions rise." On another occasion, speaking of the 
criminal list being unusually large for the last month, it 
broke out with: "Oh, pulque, pulque, what evils are 
committed under thine influence! And yet, verily, thou 
art a most excellent aid to digestion." 

All the papers which I know of are subsidized by the 
government, and, until within several months ago, they 
were paid to abstain from attacks on the government. 
This subsidy has stopped, through want of funds, but the 
papers say nothing against the government, as they care 
too much for their easy lives; so they circulate among 
foreigners misrepresenting all Mexican affairs, and put- 
ting everything in a fair but utterly false light. The 
Mexicans have nothing but contempt for the papers, and 
the newspaper men have no standing whatever, not even 
level with the government officials, whose tools they are. 
If a newspaper even hints that government affairs could 
be bettered, the editors are thrown into prison, too filthy 
for brutes, until they die or swear never to repeat the of- 
fense. The papers containing the so-called libelous items 
are all hunted up by the police and destroyed, and the 
office and type are destroyed. These arrests are not un- 
usual; indeed they are of frequent occurrence. While 
in Mexico I knew of at least one man being sent to jail 
every two weeks; they are taken by force, in the most 
peculiar manner for a country which lays claim to having 
laws, not to speak of being a republic. Just for an im- 
aginary offense in their writings, they are remanded to 
prison, and are kept in dark and dirty cells, shut off from 
connection with the world without trial, without even 
enough to eat. 

A satirical paper named Ahuizote was denounced by 
some offended government officials and the editor was 
thrown into jail. Then Daniel Cabrera started another 
Mexican Puck and called it Hijo del AJiiiizote (the son of 
Ahuizote). It was quite clever and got out a caricature 
entitled: "The Cemetery of the Press," showing in the 
background the graves of the different papers, and in the 



164 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

front a large cross engraved, '^ The independent Press. 
E. I. P./^ while hanging to each side was a red-eyed owl 
with a spade. On top of the tomb was a lighted fuse 
marked '^ Liberty.^' Underneath it read, '' The sad 
cemetery of the Press of Mexico, filled by liberty leaders, 
Juarez, Lerdo, Diaz and Gonzales.''^ The police were 
sent out to gather np and destroy every copy of this 
paper. 

Editor Cabrera was put in Belem, where he remained 
in the most pitiable condition until death promised re- 
lease; through the influence of friends they took him 
home to die, guarding his house with a regiment until 
he should be fit to be carried back to jail or until they 
should see his body consigned to the grave. To say li- 
belous things is as dangerous as to write them. One fel- 
low who ran a liquor shop let his tongue wag too much 
for wisdom, and one night a member of the police secret 
service went in, and as the proprietor turned to get the 
drink the policeman had called for, he was shot in the 
back and again in the body after he had fallen. Tlie no- 
tice of the affair ended by saying: "It is not known 
whether the policeman had orders to do the shooting.-'' 
La Cronicade Trihunalcs (the Court Chronicle) editor was 
denounced and imprisoned for simply speaking about the 
rulings of one of the judges. 

As all know by the Editor Cutting case, even a foreigner 
does not write about Mexico's doings as they really are. 
I had some regard for my health, and a Mexican jail is 
the least desirable abode on the face of the earth, so some 
care was exercised in the selection of topics while we were 
inside their gates. Quite innocently one day I wrote a 
short notice about some editors, who received no pay from 
the government, being put in jail. The article was copied 
from one ^oaper to another, and finally reached Mexico. 
The subsidized sheets threatened to denounce me and 
said in Spanish, ^' One button was enough;" meaning by 
one article the officials could see what my others were 
like, but by means of a little bravado I convinced them 
that I had the upper hand, and they left me unhurt. 
They have a law, known as "Article 33," which defines 
the fate of " pernicious " foreigners who speak or write 
too freely of the land and its inhabitants. Once or twice 
they have been kind enough to take the offending for- 



^IX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 165 

eigner and march him, with" a regiment of soldiers at his 
heels, across the boundary line. 

Professor Francis Wayland, of Brown University, to- 
gether with the American Consul, Porch; and Dr. Par- 
sons, visited the prison Belem to ascertain the conditions 
of the editors imprisoned there. They were not grarfted 
any of the customary privileges, but one little paid sheet 
was afraid some truth would reach the public's eye, as 
Professor Wayland was soon to return to the States. In 
referring to the visit, this paper said: '' It is to be noted 
that these men wanted to enter the very gallery where 
the newspaper men were confined, and that they took 
' note in a memorandum book of all answers.' " To save 
trouble. Dr. Parsons, who resides in Mexico, said they 
merely exchanged the usual greeting with the prisoners. 
Some of the editors confined thought, that as they be- 
longed to a press club, that they could appeal to the As- 
sociated Press of the United States for aid. Of course, 
such an appeal would be useless; the papers now pub- 
lished there take pride in copying and crediting them to 
other papers. N'o dependence can be put in any of them 
for a true statement of affairs. The Ttvo RepuUics was 
started and run by a Texan, Major Clarke. He lived, in 
Mexico with his family and regularly every evening used 
to take a walk down the paseo with his two daughters, 
who always walked a couple of yards in advance. This 
was repeated every day until the Mexicans used to say, 
^' There is Clarke and his Two Eepublics." 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE GHASTLY TALE OF DOH JUAK MAKUEL. 

Whek able to translate Spanish, there is nothing that 
will amuse a tourist more in the City of Mexico than 
reading the street and store signs and names of the dif- 
ferent squares. Streets are not named there as here. 
Every square is called a street and has a separate name; 
the same witli all the stores and public buildings. No 
difference how small, they have some long, fantastic 
name painted above the doorway. We used to get lunch 
at a restaurant called^' The Coffee House of the Little 
Hell,'' and our landladv always bought her groceries at 
^^The Tail of the Devil." 



166 ^IX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

^^SaiVs Shoe," the ^^ Paris Boot/' and the "Boot of 
Gold/-' were all shoe stores of the very best order, where 
they will make lovely satin boots, embroidered in gold 
or silver bangles for $8 a pair, or of the finest leather 
for 13 to $5. They never havo numbers to their 
sho^s, and if none will fit, they make to order with- 
out extra charges. There is not a low-heeled, flat shoe 
in Mexico; they cannot be sold. One pair of Amer- 
ican make, in a window on a prominent street, attracted 
a great deal of attention and ridicule. The Mexican 
women have lovely feet, and their shoes are very fancy 
— extremely high cut, French or opera heels and pointed 
toes. The shoemakers have a book in which they take 
orders for shoes. First they set the foot down on a clean 
page and mark out the exact size; then they write on it 
the measure and the thickness, and when the shoe ar- 
rives it is of perfect fit. Let it be added, as encourage- 
ment to La-Americana, that although the dark-eyed 
Senorita's foot is exquisite in size and shajDC, she walks 
with a decided stoop, caused by the extremely high heels 
she has worn from babyhood, 

" The Surprise,'' the "God of Fashion," the "Way 
to Beauty is Through the Purse," the "Esmerelda" 
and the "Land of Love" are dry goods stores kept by 
Frenchmen, and filled, with the most expensive things 
ever exhibited to the public. While the "Red Som- 
brero" sells silk hats at three dollars to hundreds of 
dollars for sombreros covered with fifty pounds of silver 
and gold embroidery, the " Temptation," the "Reform," 
the "Flowers of April," the "Sun of May," the "Fifth 
of May," the "Christmas Night" and the "Dynamite" 
sell pulque at a laco a mug to the thirsty natives. 

The names of the streets were such a source of unfail- 
ing interest to me that I cannot refrain from telling of 
some of the strangest and most peculiar ones. All the 
saints ever heard of or imagined are honored. The 
Mexicans do not say street after a name, in our fashion, 
but always say the street of — such as the Street of the 
Little Hand, of the Masons, of Montezuma, of the Ma2^- 
nolia Tree, of the Moon, of Grace, of Joy, of the Joint 
of God, of Jesus and Mother, of the Sad Indian, of In- 
dependence, of Providence, of Enjoyment, of the Hens, 
of the Steers, of the Slave, of Pain, of the Devil, of the 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 1^7 

-^ 1- • f +1.P Dflnce of the Green Cross, of the 

Dehciou. of the ^^^^^^ f J^ j.,,1^^ of the OaTalry 
Crosses of Cayote, ?^ tbe -t^J^A^ g^ht, of a Good 

tX ?f^^;e"^^^^^^^ f'T 

Death, 01 tne >vooa,ui. ^f +hp Trees of the Angles, ' 

of the Pf™' °'/rY^ Jf Mosquitoes, of Paper Money, 

equally curious. ,,,.,, 

There are eleven streets named after Humholdt m the 
ritvoMexicr Curious legends are attached to many 

it is: 

When the Spaniards first^««ed in Mexico there ^^^^ 
one man named Don Juan Manuel, ^^l^^' .^^*^°3 ^'*''^^ 
;"th a handsome wife, was always ^iscon nted and 

th msanl la'nLl > -T -^ 'thfl^rtrhis' fltM ani 

+T.O irio^ that his wife was unfaithful to iiis ntiui auu 

retful devoton and he sat up at night brooding over 

tS and writing down beautiful names he would hear 



168 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

and read of, that would be handy in case of any sudden 
and unexpected event whereby they could be utilized. 

One night while thus occupied the devil appeared and 
told him to bring his nephew from Sj^ain, and also to 
stand, wrapped in a long black cape, such as is yet worn 
by his countrymen, in front of his house at eleven o^'clock 
that night (a very late hour for a Spaniard to be abroad 
in Mexico). The first man who passed would be the one 
who had stolen his wife's love, whispered the devil, and 
Don Juan Manuel must say to him: '^'' My friend, what 
is the hour?" and, on the man's replying, continue: 
'' You are a happy man; you know the hour of your 
death," then stab him to the heart. This done, he was 
to immediately feel relieved. His wife's love would re- 
turn, and he would ever after be supremely happy. 

The don, much elated at the promised downfall of an 
imaginary rival, and the ease it would bring to his wor- 
ried mind, hastened to do the devil's bidding; the very 
next night, wrapped in his long cloak, he stood in the 
shadow of his house; just as the watchman's whistle, call- 
ing the hour of eleven, had ceased to sound way off in 
the distance, a man, as the devil predicted, came walk- 
ing by. '■^My friend, what is the hour?" cried Don Juan 
Manuel. True to the historic courtesy of his birth, the 
stranger politely stopjDed and replied: ^^Witli your per- 
mission, eleven o'clock, Senor Don." ^'^You area happy 
man; you know the hour of your death," and the unsus- 
pecting stranger fell, stabbed to the heart, while Don 
Manuel hastened into his casa. 

But he found no relief. While he had no regret for 
the deed, his jealousy seemed to burn with increased fire: 
so the devil came again and told him he had killed the 
wrong man, but he must persevere — go out again, kill 
the man that he should see at that hour, and at last he 
would find the right one; the people began to talk about 
a man being found every morning dead at the same spot 
and in the same manner. But Don Juan was one of 
their highest by birth and rearing and was above sus- 
picion. Their superstition made them attribute the 
deaths to an invisible power, and no investigation was 
made. 

In the meantime Don Juan's dearly beloved nephew 
had arrived from Spain, and was not only warmly wel- 



J^IX MONTHS IN MEXICO. iGd 

corned by liim, but by liis wife, who hoped the nephew 
might be the means of helping to bridge the chasm, 
which for months had steadily been increasing between 
herself and her husband. Night came on, and the don 
went out to perform his deadly business. A man clad 
like himself came along, and Don Juan approached with, 
<' My friend, what is the hour?" '' Eleven o'clock. 
Adois," briefly answered the one addressed. " You are 
a happy man; you know the hour of your death,'' and 
the dark-clad stranger sank with a slight moan, while the 
don fled to his dreary chambers. 

Morning dawned, and a dead man, as usual, was found. 
Don Manuel met them carrying the body into his casa, 
heard the screams of his wife, and saw the rigid face of 
his beloved nephew, dead, and by his hand! He rushed 
to his father confessor, whom he had not visited for so 
long, and begged absolution. '' Thou must first repent," 
said the father. '' Repent, repent!" cried the wretched 
man; " I am racked with misery. Grant me absolution." 
'' Prove thy repentance first," answered the father; " go 
and stand beneath the scaffolding in front of the official 
building when the bell and watchman tolls the hour for 
midnight. Prove thy repentance by doing that thrice, 
then come to me." 

After the first trial he returned to the father, begging 
that absolution be granted, for devils had wounded his 
flesh and tortured him as he had stood beneath the scaf- 
folding. ''No, twice more must thou stand there," was 
the unrelenting reply, and once again he went. Morning 
brought him more dead than alive to the good father's 
side. His face wore the hue of death, his form was 
trembling, his eyes were glassy and his words wild. '' I 
cannot endure the third night. Angels and devils alike 
surround me. My victims ask me, with their cold hands 
about my throat and glassy eyes staring into mine, to 
name the hour I want to die. My flesh is bruised where 
they burn and prick me. My head is sore from the fre- 
quent pulling t)f my hair. Grant me absolution; they 
have showed me the bottomless pit of hell, and I cannot 
return!" 

The good father prayed long and earnestly with him, 
that the Almighty power would deal leniently with his 
many crimes, but commanded the trembling wretch to 



170 st:x: montbs m Mexico. 

spend the third and final night beneath the scaffoldinof. 
Dawn came, but it brought no hopeful man for the 
promised absolution. They found him hanging on the 
scaffolding dead. Some say the angels took him away 
because he had suffered sufficiently for his sins. Others 
say the devils hung him because he tried to escape the 
toil he had willingly accepted. But he was dead. His 
story was made known, and because of the strangeness 
of it, this street was named after him, and I never tra- 
versed it while in Mexico but that I felt sorrow for the 
poor insane wretch as he stood three nights beneath the 
scaffolding on Don Juan Manuel. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

A MEXICAiq" PARLOR. 

Most readers will probably be interested to know how 
custom rules that a j)arlor shall be furnished ^'in Span- 
ish " as we quaintly say in Mexico. For the knowledge 
that all are of a different tongue makes a rather queer 
impression and it is quite common for foreigners to re- 
mark: '' Oh, they can^t hear, they are Spanish." We 
even get to think they cannot see and that people laugh 
and babies cry ^' in Spanish." 

A parlor, or scda, is found in every private Mexican 
house, but until within the last two years there was not a 
hotel in the republic that had a parlor. Boarders enter- 
tained their friends in their bedrooms — and this is yet 
considered quite the proper tiling to do. Some of the 
hotels now advertise as Americanos on the strength of 
having a little parlor. Calling or visiting is quite un- 
common, as there is no society, and little sociability out- 
side their home doors, yet occasionally relatives call on 
one another; still I have been with cousins who accident- 
ally met at church, and though they were the best of 
friends, living within a dozen squares of each other, 
they had not exchanged visits for throe years; this is 
quite common. I know two sisters living within four 
squares of each other who have not been in each other^s 
house for a year. I hardly think the reason is a lack of 
sociability or hospitality, as, once within the massive 
myalls of their casa, the Spanish courtesy is readily ex- 



SIX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. 171 

hibited; tliey are your servants, and their house is yours 
for the time being, but the main causes are the gradual 
decrease of their once princely fortunes, and their lazi- 
ness; the latter I regard, from close observation, as the 
chief fault. 

Yet with all their retired habits they retain the '' cus- 
tom '' of former generations as to how their parlor must 
be arranged and visits paid and received, as strictly as 
thouo-h they were in the midst of an ultra society circle; 
their" customs, I have been informed, are thoroughly 
Spanish and are the only ones practiced both m bpam 
and Cuba. 

The sala is always on the second floor, as none but 
servants occupy the ground or first floor, and it is gener- 
ally the only room in the house which boasts of a carpet. 
In several cases I have seen the floors made of polished 
wood and marble tiling; the walls are beautifully frescoed 
in colors, and the ceiling, which is always very high, has 
a magnificent painting in the center, the subject invari- 
ably of angels or a group of scantily-clad females. In 
each corner there are round, brass-edged openings ot 
about ten inches in circumference, which serve as ven- 
tilators and very often a double purpose by letting scorp- 
ions in on unwilling victims. 

The windows are but glass doors opening out upon lit- 
tle iron-railed balconies shaded by awnings. Each win- 
dow-shade IS transparent, and as the light shines through, 
it not only fills the room with some beautiful delicate tints, 
but discloses a lovely Southern scene. Cobweby curtains 
of creamy white hang from brass poles, suspended at 
least a foot and a half from the window, forming m 
themselves little nooks which would be idohzed by 
romantically inclined '^spoons'' and '^spooners ot the 
States. 

The Mexicans are all good judges of paintings and 
many are talented artists; they do not harrow up one s 
sensibilities with dollar daubs of blue-trees, lavender- 
tinted skies and a mammoth animal with horns and tail, 
standing on a white streak in the foreground, which (the 
animal) placed cross-wise, could stand on all fours and 
never touch water. Nor does one's eyes have to long tor 
the waters of Lethe because of tea prizes and Mikado 



172 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

ornaments. But a selection of good oil paintings and 
French-plate mirrors, all framed in brass, grace their 
rooms. 

The piano is almost universal and occupies some nook 
by itself; the furniture for the sala is always cushioned 
and is composed mainly of easy chairs; the sofa — the seat 
of honor^is placed against the wall beneath some large 
painting or mirror and a large rug is laid in front. 
Starting from either end are the easy chairs which form 
an unbroken circle around the sofa, all thus being able 
to face it w^ithout turning their backs on any one. Di- 
rectly at the back of the chairs, or facing the sofa, is a 
round table with a ^'^ crazy ^^ patchwork cover — which 
craze has invaded even that country — or a knitted scarf. 
Then it is actually littered with ornaments of every de- 
scription, leaving no empty space; as an Englishman 
rather tersely remarked to me, '^ They look like a counter 
in a crowded pawn shop.^' 

All the chairs, and the ^ofa, have crocheted tidies on 
the backs, arms and seat, each separate, and enough to 
madden a Talmage convert. You may rise up slowly 
with an Andersonian grace and first one female politely 
begs permission to remove one of her tidies from your 
hat; then they will file into the next room, one by one, to 
see how La Americanos' sombrero becomes them, while 
another removes a white, delicately constructed thing 
from your ^^tournure'^ (what they dote on), which lat- 
ter they have been dying to closely inspect, and to find 
how you manage to have it hang so prettily. And after 
you remove another tidy which has become fastened to 
your heel (although you can't imagine how), you detach 
yet another from the side trimmings of your dress. By 
that time you are flustered, forget the Andersonian grace, 
and utter some emphatic words about tidies and tidy mat- 
ters in general, and sit down with a real Castletonian 
kick. 

The sala is not complete without at least two cabinets 
to hold the overflow of the center table. In all the odd 
corners are pedestals on which are statuettes in marble, 
bronze, or plaster-of-Paris, just as the owner's purse per- 
mits. Tropical plants in quaint jars of Indian design 
and construction and rustic stands are grouped about, 
and parrots, mocking-birds, and gayly-colored birds of 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 173 

high and low voices complete the attractions of the beau- 
tiful Mexican sala. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

LOVE AKD COUETSHIP IN" MEXICO. 
«' Why the world are all thinking about it, 

And as for myself I can swear, 
If I fancied that Heaven were without it, 

I'd scarce feel a wish to be there." Moore. 

Beneath the Mexican skies, where everybody treats 
life as if it were one long holiday, they love with a pas- 
sion as fervent as their Southern sun, but — on one side 
at least— as brilliant and transient as a shooting star. 
Yet there is a fascination about it which makes the 
American love very insipid in comparison. 

In childhood, boys and girls are never permitted to be 
together. There is no rather sweet remembrance of 
when we first began to love, or having to stand with our 
face in the corner for passing 'Hove letters, ^^ or the fun 
of playing "^ Copenhagen ^^ when we didn^'t run one bit 
hard. It is only of a dirty little schoolroom filled with 
dusky ninos, all of the same wearing apparel, who stud- 
ied ''out loud;" a fat little teacher who never wore tight 
dresses, and who only combed her hair ''after the senor- 
itas had gone home." A scolding French master and an 
equally bad music master completes the memories. 

When Mexican damsels reach that "hood " which per- 
mits of long dresses and big bustles, they are in feverish 
expectationyuntJl, during a walk or drive, a flash from a 
pair of soft, black eyes tells its tale and a pair of starry 
ones sends back a swift reply, and with a tender sigh she 
realizes she has learned that which comes into the lives 
of them all. That night slie peeps from behind her cur- 
tains and watches him promenade the opposite sidewalk 
back and forth, the gaslight throwing his shadow many 
feet in advance, which, she vows — next to him — is the 
most beautiful thing she ever gazed upon. She does not 
show herself the first time or does he expect it. Modesty 
or custom prevents. Just as he takes off his hat to 
breathe a farewell to her balcony, a white handkerchief 
flutters forth for an instant, he kisses his finger tips, 
the light goes out, and both retire, longing for manana 
noche. 



174 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

Time goes on, and slie gets bold enongli to stand on 
the balcony, in full glare of the laughing moon, whilst he 
walks just beneath her. When it rains he will stand 
there until hat and clothing are ruined, to show his de- 
votion. When she goes for a walk he is sure to follow 
slowly behind, and if chance offers he touches his hat 
slightly, and she with upraised hand deftly gives the 
pretty Mexican salutation. When the novelty wears off 
all this, she gets a pencil, paper, and cord, with which 
she transfers to him those sweet, soft little nothings 
which the love-stricken are so fond of, -and the fair fish- 
eress never draws in an empty line; hers are but the 
repetition of what almost any love-si^k maiden would 
pen — badly written and mis-spelled, it is true; his is 
something of this style: 

"Beautiful, Extra^^cikci Aj;rGEL, — Your loving 
slave has been made to feel the bliss of heaven by your 
gracious and pleasing condescension to notice his mad- 
dening devotion for you. I long to touch your exquisite 
hand that I may be made to realize my happiness is 
earthly. Life has lost all charms for me except beneath 
your fortunate balcony which has the honor of your pres- 
ence. Only bless me with a smile and I am forever your 
most devoted, who lives only to promote your happiness. 

''^ Your Servakt t^^ho bends to kiss your hand.^' 

Every letter ends with this last, as we end ours " Ee- 
spectfu'lly/^ If they do not care to write it out fully they 
put only the initials for every word. If a girl is inclined 
to flirt she may have seA^eral '* bears, ^' but her fingers tell 
a different hour for each. If two should meet they in- 
quire the other^s mission, and their hot blood leads them 
into a duel — which, however, is less frequent of late 
years. No difference how much a girl may care for a 
duelist, she does not see him after he has fought for her. 

Winter comes at last, and with it the annual receptions 
of the different clubs. A mutual understandi^ng and 
many fond hearts beat in anticipation of the event. Once 
there they forget the eyes of their chaperons, and in 
their adorers" arms they dance the Spanish love-dance. 
It is really the danza. At all receptions it comes in every 
other dance and is played twice the length of any. It is 
the one moment of a Mexican's life, and I assure you 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 175 

they improve it. The danza is rather peculiar, and not 
at all pleasing to an Americana. It is nearly the waltz 
step reduced to a slow, graceful motion; the high heels 
and tight boots prevent any swift movement; the gentle- 
man takes the lady in his arms and she does likewise with 
him — as nearly as possible — and in this way they dance 
about three minutes, then encircling, as two loving 
schoolgirls walk along, they advance, and, clasping hands 
with the nearest couple, the four dance together for a 
little while and then separate; this repeated by the hour 
constitutes the Spanish danza. Uninterrupted conversa- 
tion is held continually as the girl's cheek rests against 
the gentleman's shoulder. Love is whispered, proposals 
are made, and arrangements for future actions perfected. 

When parents notice a '' bear,'' if they are favorably 
inclined, they invite him in, where he can see the object 
of his adoration hemmed in on either side by petticoats 
of forbidding aspect. When he once enters the house it 
means that he has been accepted as the girl's husband, 
and there is no '' backing out." The father sets a time 
for a private interview and when he calls they settle all 
business points: As to what the daughter receives at the 
father's death, when the marriage shall take place, where 
the bride is to live and how much the intended husband 
has to support her; the lawyer finishes all arrangements 
and escorts the engaged pair to a magistrate, where a 
civil marriage is performed— that their children may be 
legal heirs to their property. Even after this they are 
not permitted to be alone together; the intended bride- 
groom buys all the wedding outfit, for the bride is not 
allowed^io take even a collar from what her father bought 
for her before. 

The final ceremony is performed in a church hj a padre, 
who sprinkles the young couple with holy water and 
hands an engagement ring to the groom, which he puts 
on the little finger of his bride, then the padre puts a 
marriage ring on both the bride and groom. After 
which, holding on to the priest's vestments, they proceed 
to the altar, .where they kneel while he puts a lace scarf 
around theii^ shoulders and a silver chain over their heads; 
symbolic that they are bound together irrevocably, as 
there is no such thing as divorce in Mexico. After mass 
is said the marriage festivities take place and last as 



176 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

long as tlie husband cares to pay for them, anywhere 
from three days to a month, and then, like the last scene 
on the stage, the curtain goes down, lights are put out, 
and you see no more of the actors who pleased your fancy 
for a short time. 

The husband puts his wife in his home, which is hence- 
forth the extent of her life. She is devoted, tender, and 
true, as she has been taught. She expects nothing ex- 
cept to see that the servants attend to the children and 
household matters — and she gets only what she expects. 
He finds divers amusements, for, according to the cus- 
toms of his country, his ^' illusion'^ (what they call love) 
dies after a few days spent alone with his bride, and he 
only returns at stated intervals to fondle or whi|) his cap- 
tive — just as fancy dictates. The men discuss at the 
club the fact that he has more loves than one, but they 
all have, and it excites no censure. But the world can 
never know what the bride thinks; private affairs are 
never made public. He can even kill her, as did their 
predecessor Cortes, and it will excite little or no com- 
ment. When matured years come on, she loses what 
good looks she had; three hundred pounds is nothing: for 
weight, and on her lip grows a heavy, black mustache. 
She cares for nothing but sleeping, eating, drinking, and 
smoking the perpetual cigarette. And in this way ends 
the fair Mexican^'s brief dream of the grande passion. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

SCENES WITHIi^ MEXICAN" HOMES. 

The City of Mexico makes many bright promises for 
the future. As a winter resort, as a summer resort, a 
city for men to accumulate fortunes, a paradise for stu- 
dents, for artists; a rich field for the hunter of the cu- 
rious, the beautiful and the rare, its bright future is not 
far distant. Already its wonders are related to the en- 
ter|)rising people of the States, who are making tours 
through the land that held cities even at the time of the 
discovery of America. 

The Mexican Central road, although completed only 
five years ago, offers every, and even more, comforts than 
old established eastern roads. Many excursionists have 



MX 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. m 

had delightful visits here, and at present a number of 
Quakers have come to see for themselves what Mexico 
offers. One of the party was quizzing Mr. Theo. Geste- 
feld, editor of the Ttvo RepuUics, on the advisability of 
opening a mission for the poor and degraded of Mexico. 
Mr. Gestefeld is a first-class newspaper man, formerly 
employed on the Chicago Tribune, and has a practical 
and common sense way of viewing things. His reply 
should be studied by all coming to Mexico to stay. He 
said: '^ Their religion has been the people^s faith always, 
even before Americans lived. They are fanatics, and 
trying to change or convert them is wasting time. Let 
their faith alone, and go out and buy a farm on the table • 
lands and teach them how to farm and how to live. You 
will find them ready, willing, even anxious to learn. 
They will quickly imitate any way they know is better 
than theirs. '' The Quaker is still here, but, so far as 
known, has neither started a mission nor bought a farm. 

Mexico is colder these last few days than the tra- 
ditional oldest inhabitant ever remembered, but it is a 
pleasant change to the visitors who have left the snow- 
bound country, even if a fire is an unheard-of thing. 

People who read history form wrong ideas of how 
Mexican houses are built. They are square, plastered 
outside and decorated. Many are three and four stories 
in height. The windows, which are always curtained, 
are finished with iron balconies. Massive doors, on 
which are ponderous knockers of antique shape and size, 
keep from view the inhabitants of the Oasa. A knock, 
and the doors swing open and a brown portero, dressed 
in the garb of his country, sombrero, serape and all, ad- 
mits you to the lower court, where the stables are kept 
and the servants live. . Beautiful flowers, rare orchids, 
and tall, waving palms are growing in rich profusion. 
Directly up through the center is a large, open square; 
a stairway, decorated in the highest style of art, leads to 
the different departments. Fine statuary, singing birds 
and fountains mingling with the flowers aid in making 
the scene superb. 

Just the opposite of the States, the higher up a room 
is the better it is considered, and in hotels they charge 
accordingly, $1 first floor; |2 second; 13 thirds and so 



its 



SIX MONTHS m MEXICO. 



on. A room is not healthy unless the sun shines into it; 
and they have no windows — just glass doors. 

All the hotels in Mexico are run on the European plan. 
They have restaurants attached where the waiters, as 
long as they smile, cannot do too much for their cus- 
tomers. Mexico has several good hotels, of their kind, 
and most of them equal, if they are not superior, to the 
Iturbide — pronounced Eeturbeda — but Americans who 
riLTi after royalty want to stop here so they can say they 

have stayed at the 
house which was the 
palace of the first 
emperor after Mexico 
was independent. 

Mexico looks the 
same all over, every 
white street termin- 
ates at the foot of a 
snow-capped mount- 
ain, look which way 
you will; the streets 
are named very 
strangely, one 
straight street hav- 
ing half a dozen 
"names. Each square 
has a different name, 
or designated as 
Eirst San Erancisco; 
the next block 
Second San Eran- 
cisco. Policemen 
stand in the middle 
of the street all over the city, reminding one of so many 
posts. They wear white caps with numbers on, blue 
suits, nickel buttons. A mace now takes the place of 
the svvord of former days. At night they don an over- 
coat and hood, which makes them look just like the pict- 
ures of veiled knights. Their red lanterns are left in the 
place they occupied during the daytime, while they retire 
to some doorway where, it is said, they sleep as soundly 
as their brethren in the States. At intervals they blow 
a whistle like those used by street car drivers, which are 




SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 179 

answered by those on the next posts; thus they know all 
is well. In small towns they call out the time of night, 
ending up with tiempo sereno (all serene), from which 
the Mexican youth, with some mischievous Yankeeism, 
have nicknamed them Sereno. 

It is very easy for those unaccompanied and not speak- 
ing Spanish to get around in Mexico. A baggage man 
meets the train out from the city, who not only attends 
to his regular duties, but gives any information regarding 
hotels that visitors may want. Numerous carriages of 
all kinds and descriptions, stand around the depot. Each 
one is decorated with a flag, by which the visitor may 
know the price without asking. White, red, and blue — 
fifty cents, seventy -five cents, and one dollar. The drivers 
often try to get the best of a tourist, es|)ecial]y if he 
speaks Spanish, and charge him one dollar for a seventy- 
five cent carriage. The Mexicans do not differ much 
from the Yankee hackman. If any, it is in favor of the 
Mexican. They do not cheat so much, because they are 
not sharp enough. 

Pulque shops, where they deal out the national drink, 
are quite plenty. These are the only buildings in the 
city that are decorated. They are generally corner 
buildings, and the two sides have finely-painted pictures 
of ladies, ballet-girls, men on gayly-caparisoned horses, 
angels floating on clouds, etc. Numerous flags of black 
and red^ or red and white, answer for a sign, but it is 
against the law to use the national flag. These saloons, 
or shops, as they are called, stand wide open, with no 
screens to hide the dirty bar and drinkers from the eyes 
of pedestrians. They are patronized by men, women, 
and children, and are kept open all the time. 

** Sabe que es pulque — 
Licor divino ? 
Lo beben los angeles 
En vez de vino." 

Know ye not pulque — 

That liquor divine ? 
Angels in heaven 

Prefer it to wine. 

Pulque is the fermented juice of the agave, or so-called 
century plant, which matures in from five to fifteen 



180 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

years, instead of one hundred as generally believed. It 
grows wild here, but large plantations of it are cultivated. 
Just before the plant is ready to blossom the natives 
gather the big fat leaves together, around the bud, form- 
ing a sort of basin. The bud is then cut out and the 
juice from the stalk collects in the leaf-formed basin. 
One stalk will yield as high as two gallons a day for six 
months. 

The pulque is collected in jars that the gatherers carry 
suspended from their shoulders. . It is sucked out of 
the basin through a hollow bamboo or reed, and squirted 
from the mouth into the jar. A knowledge of this fact 
does not render the stuff any more palatable to foreign- 
ers. It is awfully nasty stuff, but they say that when you 
get acquainted with it you like it real well. 

Mescal is a sort of brandy distilled from pulque, and 
will paralyze almost as promptly as a stroke of lightning. 
Metheglin — honey and water — is made from the honey 
ant; they are j^laced in a piece of bolting cloth and the 
honey squeezed out of them. 

The street-car system here is quite unique. But first 
a few statistics may prove interesting; they run on ninety 
miles of rails, and carried last year nine million passen- 
gers; the company owns one thousand five hundred 
mules and horses, one hundred and thirty-nine first-class 
coaches, sixty-five second-class, forty-six platform or 
friiight cars, and twenty-six funeral cars. They" pay an 
annual dividend of six per cent, on a capital of 15,000,- 
000. The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Senor 
Castillo, speaks Spanish and English; they are very 
particular about free passes, and so far this year have 
only issued six. 

First-class cars are exactly like those in the States, 
and the second-class look just like the ^^ Black Maria,'' 
except the wheels. Cars, just like open freight or truck 
cars on railroads, are used for hauling instead of wagons, 
and a dozen of these, loaded with merchandize, are 
drawn by one team. Movings and everything are 
hauled in this manner; the price charged is compara- 
tively small. Cars do not run singly, but in groups of 
four and five. Even on the first-class cars men smoke as 
much as they wish, and if the women find it unbearable 
they go out and stand on the platform; there are two 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 181 

conductors on each car; one sells the tickets, the other 
collects them. 

When the line was first opened an enterprising stock- 
holder bought up all the hearses in the city and had fu- 
neral cars made. The coffin is laid on one draped car; 
white for young and black for old, and the mourners and 
friends follow in street cars hired for rhe purpose. A 
stylish funeral will have a dozen or more cars, the win- 
dows of which are hung with white crepe, and the doors 
with black; the drivers and conductors appear in black 
suits and high, silk hats; the horses are draped, and have 
black and white plumes on their heads. The cost of fu- 
nerals ranges from 120 to 11500. A stylish one is a beau- 
tiful sight; the poor, by making application to the po- 
lice, are given the funeral car and passage for two per- 
sons free; the low and poverty-stricken class also hire the 
coffins, and when they reach the cemetery the corpse is 
taken out, wrapped in a serape and consigned to a hired 
grave — that is, they buy the grave for five years, at the 
end of which time the bones are lifted and thrown in some 
corner, exposed to the gaze of the public, in order to 
make room for new-comers; and the tombstones — then 
useless — are laid in one heap by the gate. The people 
are no respecters of human bones; Americans always 
wank to go back to the States to die. 

Street car drivers, of which there are two on each car, 
are compelled by law to blow a horn at every crossing to 
warn pedestrians of their coming; the horns are similar, 
in tone and shape, to those used by fish peddlers in the 
States. Drivers of every kind of vehicles use the long 
lash whip of plaited leather exclusively, and they ply 
them quite vigorously on their animals; they also urge 
them to faster speed by a sound ssimilar to that which the 
villain on the stage makes as he creeps upon intended 
victims when asleep, with his finger on his lips. It 
sounds like a whip lash cutting through the air. 

The carts in use here are of the most ancient shape 
and style; two large, wooden wheels su|)port a big square 
box. One mule is hitched next to the wagon, and three 
abreast in front of that, and one still ahead; the harness 
baffles description. Drivers very seldom ride, but trot 
along beside their team with rope lines in their hands; 



182 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



they can trot afc the speed of the mules with apparent 
comfort. 

Mexico 'does not breakfast. When people go into the 
restaurants and order a breakfast the waiters look at them 
in wonder, and inform them in the most polite terms in 
the world that they have but coffee and dry bread for 
breakfast. It is asserted that to eat breakfast will cause 
a heaviness and dullness for the entire day, but whether 
this is true or otherwise, it cannot be stated, for since 
our arrival in Mexico we have been unable to find any 
other than as before mentioned — and black coffee at that. 
Every family takes their coffee in their bedrooms. It 
takes at least two hours to get through an ordinary din- 
ner. 

A description of dinner in a private family will, no 
doubt, prove interesting to most readers, especially if 
they understand the dTfficulty of obtaining admission 

into a family. A 
Mexican will be all 
politeness, will do 
anything for you, will 
place his house at 
your service, but he 
and his family will 
move out. He will 
do anything but ad- 
mit you to the -se- 
crecy of his house. 
So this experience is 
rare. 

Dinner was an- 
n u n c e d and the 
gentlemen, in the 
most courteous man- 
ner, o ff er e d their 
arms, and we walked 
along the balcony to 
the dining-room. 
The lace-hung doors 
w^ere swung open, 
and there before us was the table with plate, knife and 
fork, and a penny loaf of bread at eacii place. We sit 
down, take our napkins, and the waiters — always men— 




8tX MONTffS M MEXICO, 18B 

fill our glasses from tlie elegant water bottles that grace 
each end of the table. One dish, containing, perhaps, 
cold meat, salad, red pepper, radishes, and pickled beans, 
is served on plates, and the Urst ones taken away from 
us, although not used. After endeavoring to swallow 
some of this nauseating stuff, which the natives devour 
with relish, the servant removes the dish, our plates, 
knives and forks, and another equally strange and equally 
detestable dish is brought on. Thus the feast continues, 
meanwhile breaking the penny loaf in bits and eating 
without a spread. 

Butter, which commands II a pound, is never seen 
from one year's end to another, and jelly is an unheard- 
of dish. The last dish, and one that is never omitted 
from dinner or supper, is frijoles — pronounced free- 
holies — consists of beans, brown ones, with a sort of 
gravy over them. If a Bostonian were but to visit this 
country his intellectual stomach, or appetite, would be 
sated for once. Sliced orange, covered Avith sugar and 
cinnamon, is dessert, after which comes chocolate or cof- 
fee; the former superb, the latter miserable. With the 
coffee the ladies and gentlemen smoke their cigarettes. 

Children are really good here, their reverence for their 
parents being something beautiful. When entering the 
dining room each one kisses its mother's hand, and when 
she asks them if they wish such and such to eat they 
reply: ^'W^ith your permission.'' Although all are 
smokers they could not be persuaded to take a cigarette 
in their mother's presence. The pulque, which is also 
given around with the coffee, they refuse through respect 
to their mother; but they drink when she is not by, and 
of course she is aware of the fact, and has no desire to 
prohibit them from it. It is just their form of respect 
to refrain in her presence. A Mexican could not be 
compelled to eat of two different dishes from one plate. 
Even the smallest child is proof against persuasion on 
this point. 

The frijoles, or beans, are served on a tortilla, a sort 
of corn-cake baked in the shape of a buckwheat cake. 
Another tortilla is folded together, and answers for a 
spoon. After finishing the beans it is not considered 
proper or polite unless you eat your spoon and plate. 

Every family has at least half a dozen servants. They 



184 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



are considered excellent when tliey receive five dollars a 
month, and board themselves. Sometimes they are paid 
three dollars a month, and allowed six cents a day to fur- 
nish what they want to eat. This sum is called the 
retainer. Women do the cooking, and the men wait on 
the tables, make the beds and nurse the babies. Con- 
trary to the usual report, they are very, very cleanly. 
Every room in the house is swept daily; balconies and 
uncarpeted rooms scrubbed as often. Beds, which are 

p;>iv^_-^.^^> always single iron 




cots like those used 



^^/^.'^^:;^SM'^f'^ in hospitals, have 
V£i^$'\ ^MX ^oard or i^n hot- 
toms, and the hard- 
est of hard pillows. 

Brooms are an un- 
seen article, notwith- 
standing the country 
furnishes the most 
beautiful broom corn 
in the world. It is 
bought in bunches 
and tied to a short 
stick, and used in 
that manner, forcing 
the sweeper to bend 
nearly double. Scrub 
brushes are but a 
bunch of coarse straw 
tied around the top 
2^ ^ ^ with a string, but 

L.w=s:,:ia^ they make the floors 

perfectly white. There is a fortune here awaiting some 
lively fellow who will bring machinery and make brooms 
and brushes for the natives; the straw costs comparatively 
nothing, and is of the very best quality. 

Lotteries swarm here, and are a curse to the poor. 
Men, women, and children sell the tickets along the 
streets, and the poor have such a mania for buying that 
they will pawn their clothing in order to obtain a ticket. 
There are no newsboys in this country. Occasionally 
a boy is seen with a package of papers, but he does not 
call out like they do in the States. Women generally 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 185 

sell papers, which they fold and hold out toward pass- 
ers-by, never saying a word. 

The people appear just the opposite of lazy. They 
move along the streets with a trot, equal in speed to the 
burro; they never turn their heads to gaze at a stranger, 
but go along intent on their own affairs as if they realized 
the value of time and shortness of life. 

Ladies in the States should import their servants from 
Mexico. Their hire is a very little sum; they furnish 
their own food; they are the most polite, most obedi- 
ent people alive, and are faithful. Their only fault 
• — and a very common one with servants — is that they are 
slow, but not extremely so. To children they are most 
devoted; as nurses they are unexcelled; their love for 
children amounts to a passion, a mania. As a common 
thing here, a girl of thirteen is not happy unless she has 
a baby; but with all that they are most generous with 
them,. Much amusement was caused the other day by an 
American asking a pretty little black-eyed girl if the 
bouncing babe tied to her back was hers. *'Si, senor, 
and yours, too," she replied, politely. 

The men share the troubles of nursing with the 
women, and the babies, tied on their mother^s or father's 
back, seem as content as if they were rocked in downy 
cradles. Babies, as soon as born, are clad in pantaloons 
and loose waist, irrespective of sex. There are no three- 
yard skirts on them. Boys retain this garb, but girls, 
when able to walk, are wrapped twice around the body 
with a straight cloth which serves for skirts. 

If you ask a native in regard to the sex of a baby he 
will not say it is a boy or it is a girl, but ''el hombre " (a 
man) or **la mujer " (the woman.) All efforts fail to 
make them say ''hijo" (son) or ''hija'' (daughter). 



OHAPTEE XXXI. 

THE EOMANCE OF THE MEXICAK PULQUE. 

The maguey plant is put to as many uses by the Mexi- 
cans as the cocoa palm is by the South Sea Islanders. 
All around Mexico, even on the barren plains where 
nothing else can exist, it grows in abundance. Its leaves 
are ten and more feet in length, a foot in breadth and 
^bout eight inches thick, Of course, there are smaller 



186 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 

and larger growths, according to tlieir age. After col- 
lecting strength for about seven years it sprouts from the 
center a giant flower stalk, twenty or thirty feet high, 
on which often cluster three thousand flowers of agreen^ 
ish yellow color. These wonderful plants in bloom along 
the plains form one of the most magnificent sights in 
Mexico. At the very least, forty have been seen at one 
place, each vicing with the other to put forth the most 
beauty. 

A prince named Papautzin, of the noble blood of the 
Toltec, discovered some fluid in a plant whose flowering 
spike had been accidentally broken off. After saving it 
for some time, he had the curiosity to taste it, and that 
taste was not only delicious to him, but was destined to 
moisten the throat and muddle the brain of the Mexicans 
for generations and generations, and to cause the curious 
and ever inquiring tourist to do like the whale did at the 
taste of Jonah. This noble prince was not like an East- 
ern Yankee; he did not keep his mouth shut until he ob- 
tained a patent. If he had, telephones and gas wells 
would be nowhere in comparison as a money-making 
scheme. He kindly sent some to his sovereign by his 
beautiful daughter, Xochitl, the flower of Tollan. The 
noble king drank and looked, looked and drank — the 
more he drank the more he liked the stuff; the more he 
looked the more he liked the girl. So he kept her, a 
willing prisoner, and their son was placed upon the 
throne. 

Generations after generations rolled by lovely Xochitl. 
The king, their son, and the illustrious discoverer had 
solved the wonderful problem. The maguey plant was 
cultivated by thousands, and oceans of its fluid had gone 
down the throats of tlie natives. This was the origin of 
the Mexican national drink, pulque. No estimate can be 
formed of the amount used, but it is enormous. It is 
simply water for the natives, and a pulque shop graces, 
almost invariably, every corner in the cities. As stated 
in a former chapter, these shops are the finest decorated 
places in Mexico. Superb paintings of all scenes grace 
the interior and exterior; flags float gracefully over the 
doors, and customers are always plenty. Men, women, 
and children can be seen constantly drinking from clay 
pitchers of a generous size, for the full of which they 



^IX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 181' 

T5av but two cents. No respectable Mexican would enter 
a pulque shop, but they all drink it at every meal. 

Yhe m~ is planted at the interval of three yards 
anart and in such a manner that every way you look 
across an estate the plants run in a straight line; they 
thrive in almost any soil, and after planting need no more 
attention until the time of flowering, which ,s anywhere 
from six to ten years. The Indians know by infallible 
signs just when the flowering stem will appear, and at 
tlfattmethey out out the whole l^f^, leaving on y a 
thick outside, which forms a natural basm Into tbis 
the sap contimially oozes, and it is removed twice, some_ 

imes thrice a day'by a peon, who sucks it ^to his mouth 
and then ejects it into the ]ar he carries on liis back. As 
soon as the plant exhausts all this sap, which was origin- 
ally intended to give strength and life to the flowering 
stem. It dies, and is replaced by innumerable suckers from 
the old root. Great care must be exercised m cutting 
the plant— if the least too soon or too late, it isthedeatli 

°*When first extracted the sap is extremely sweet, from 
which it derives its name, aguamiel (honey water). 
Some of this is fermented for fifteen and twenty-five 
davs, when it is called madre pulque (the mother of 
nuloue) This is distributed m very small quantities 
among different pigskins; then the fresh is poured on i , 
and in twenty-four hours it is ready for sale I'lants 
ready to cut are valued at about $5, but an estebhslied 
maguey ground will produce a revenue of $10,000 to 
mmo per annum. Pulque is brought to town in pig 
and goat skins. It has a peculiar sour-milkish taste, and 
smells exactly like hop yeast. „ ■, i 

- Prom the mild pulque is distilled a rum called mescal. 
It is of a lovely brown, golden color, and very pleasant 
to the taste. One can drink it all night, be as drunk as 
a lord, and have no big head in the morning. If it was 
once .introduced into the States nothing else would be 
used for no difference how much is drank, the heaa is 
as clear and bright as the teetotaler's in the morning 
Nor is this the only use of the plant. Poor people roof 
their huts with the leaves, placing one on the other like 
shingles. The hollowed leaf serves as a trough for con- 
ducting the water. The sharp thorns are stripped ofi, 



188 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 

leaving the fibers attached, and the natives use them as a 
needle, already threaded. Paper is made from the pulp 
of the leaves, and twine and thread from their fibers. 
The twine is woven into rugs, mats, sacks, ropes, har- 
ness, even to the bits, and dainty little purses, which 
tourists buy up like precious articles. 

The wonderful productive powers of this plant do not 
end here.. The expensive cochineal bug, used for color- 
ing purposes and for paint, counts this maguey its foster- 
mother. On its wide leaves does it live externally and 
internally until the gatherer comes and plucks it off, 
probably to color some dainty maid's gown in the far dis- 
tant land or tint some sky of an artist's dream. 

Yet maguey thinks it has not done enough for mortals, 
and it accomplishes one more thing for which the Mexicans 
would treasure its memory but Americans would gladly 
excuse it. Clinging to the shadiest side, in a childlike 
confidence, is a long green worm, similar to the unkilla- 
ble cabbage worm of the States. Peons in a gentle man- 
ner, so as not to crush or hurt, pluck these tender young 
things, and, putting them in a vessel, bring the fruits of 
their work to town. Nothing can be compared to the 
way and haste in which iDeople buy them. Fried' in but- 
ter, a little brown milk gravy around, and they are set on 
the table as the greatest delicacy of all Mexican dishes. 
It is needless to add that the natives eat them with won- 
derful relish, and are quick to say '' We know what these 
dainty things are, but you folks cat oysters!"' 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

MEXCIA]^ MAI^KEIiS. 

Among the most interesting things in Mexico are the 
customs followed by the people, which are quaint, and, 
in many cases, pretty and pleasing. Mexican politeness, 
while not always sincere, is vastly more agreeable than 
the courtesy current among Americans. Their pleasing 
manners seem to be inborn, yet the Mexican of Spanish 
descent cannot excel the Indian in courtesy, who, though 
ignorant, unable to read or write, could teach politeness 
to a Chesterfield. The moment they are addressed their 
hat is in hand. If they wish to pass they first beg your 
,permission. Even a child v\^hen learning to talk is the 



SIX ilONTHS IN MEXICO. 189 

perfection of courtesy. If you ask one its name it will 
tell yon, and immediately add, ^'^ I am your servant '' or 
^^ Your servant to command/^ This grows with them, 
and when past childhood they are as near perfection in 
this line as it is possible to be. 

When woman meets woman then doesii^t come '^the 
tug of war," but instead the '' hug and kissing;" the 
kissing is never on the lips, but while one kisses a friend 
on the right cheek, she is being kissed on the left, and 
then they change off and kiss the other side. Both sides 
must be kissed; this is repeated according to the famil- 
iarity existing between them, but never on the lips, al- 
though with an introduction the lips are touched. The 
hug — well, it is given in the same place as it is in other 
countries, and in a right tight and wholly earnest man- 
ner. From the first moment they are expected to address 
each other only by their Christian names, the family 
name never being used. 

The parlor furniture is arranged the same all over 
Mexico; the sofa is placed against the wall and the 
chairs form a circle around it; the visitor is given the 
sofa, which is the ''seat of honor," and the family sit in 
the circle, the eldest nearest the sofa; the visitor expects 
to be asked to play the piano, which she does in fine 
style, and then the hostess must play after her or commit 
a breach of courtesy, which social crime she also commits 
if she neglects to ask the guest to play; visitors always 
stay half a day, and before leaving she is treated to a dish 
of fine dulce, a sweet dessert, cigarettes and wine; then 
mantillas are put on, blessings, good wishes, kisses and 
embraces are exchanged, each says ''My house is yours; I 
am your servant," and depart. All the rules of decorum 
have been obeyed. 

When men are introduced they clasp hands, not the 
way Americans do, but with thumbs interlocked, and 
embrace with the left arm; then the left hands are 
clasped and they embrace Avith the right arm, patting 
the back in a hearty manner; the more intimate they be- 
come the closer the embrace, and it is not unusual to see 
men kiss; these embraces are not saved for private or 
home use, but are as frequent on the streets as hat tip- 
ping is here; the hand clasping is both agreeable and 
hearty. They clasp hands every time they part, if it be 



190 SiJt MONTifS IN MEXICO. 

only for an hour's duration, and again when they meet, 
and when careless Americans forget the rule they vote 
them very rude and ill-bred. Undoubtedly, as a nation, 
we are. 

On the street a woman is not permitted to recognize a 
man first. She mnst wait until he lifts his shining silk 
hat; then she raises her hand nntil on a level with her 
face, turns the palm inward, with the fingers pointing 
toward the face, then holds the first and fourth fingers 
still, and moves the two center ones in a quick motion; 
the action is very pretty, and the picture of grace when 
done by a Mexican senora, but is inclined to deceive the 
green American, and lead him to believe it is a gesture 
calling him to her side. When two women walk along 
together the youngest is always given the inside of the 
pavement, or if the younger happens to be married, she 
gets the outside — they are quite strict about this; also, if 
a gentleman is with a mother and daughters, he must 
walk with the mother and the girls must walk before 
them. A Avoman who professes Christianity will not wear 
a hat or bonnet to church, but gracefully covers her head 
with a lace mantilla. No difference how nicely she is 
clad, she is not considered dressed in good taste unless 
powdered and painted, to the height reached only by 
chorus girls. Four years ago, the Americans tell me, the 
Mexican women promenaded the streets and parks and 
took drives in ball-dresses, low neck, sleeveless, and with 
enormous trains; this has almost been stopped, although 
the finest of dresses, vivid in color, and only suitable for 
house or receiDtion wear, are yet worn on Sundays. 

Everybody wears jewelry, not with good taste, but 
piled on recklessly. I have seen men with rings on every 
finger, always excepting the thumb; and the cologne 
used is something wonderful. You can smell it while 
they are a square off,, and it is discernible when they are 
out of sight. A man is not considered fashionable unless 
he parts his hair in the middle, from his forehead to the 
nape of his neck, and dress it a la pompadour. The 
handkerchief is always carried folded in a square, and is 
used alternately to wipe his dainty little low-cut boots 
and the face. Afterward it is refolded and replaced in 
the pocket. 

Visitors are always expected to call first to s^e their 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 191 

friends when in town, as it would be a great breach o£ 
decorum for a family to call on a Yisitor before he or she 
came rtheir house. If two or more people meet m a 
?rr^andare not acquainted they must speak, but not 
shake hands; they can converse until some one comes 
when they w 11 accept an introduction and embrace, as if 
rhevhadiust that instant met. When one occupies a 
bench in he park with a stranger nei her must depart 
wUliout biddi'ng the other farewell, and very of ten while 
murmuring adieus they clasp hands and lift hats. 

Mm cans in talking employ a number of signs which 
mean as much to them and are as plainly understood as 
Msh words would be to us. They speak their sign- 
lanl age gracefully; indeed, they are a very graceful 
peop efand yet they never study it or give it a thought. 
When they want a waiter in a restaurant, or a man on 
the streets, they never call or whistle, as we would do 
but simplv clap the hands several times and the wanted 
mitv comes. The system is very oonvement, and far 
WepTeSing than the American pan. When wishing 
to beSon any one, thev throw the hand from them in 
the same manner as Americans do if they want any one 
to mre on To go away, they hold the fingers together 
and move them toward the body. 

Thev never say that a man is drunk; it sounds vulgar, 
and as tTey will " get that way," they merely place the 
fndex finger on the temple and incline the head slightly 
toward the person meant. They could never be abrupt 
enough to say any one was crazy or had no brains, so they 
touch the foreheid, between the eyebrows, with the fir t 
finger. To speak of money they form a circle of the 
thifmb and forefinger; to ask you to take a drmk or tell 
the servants to bring one, the thumb is ^™f ^^^ f, 
the mouth; to ask you to wait a little ^hi e the fi.st 
fineer is held within a quarter of an inch of the thumb. 
To'hold the palm upwVd, and f owly move Oie han^ 
backward and forward says as pain as English 1 am 
going to whip my wife," or " I whip my wife It they 
lant vou to play a game at cards, they dose both iists 
Tnd hold them tightly together. Touching the thumb 
ranidlv with the four fingersclosed meansyouhave much 
or many of anything, like many friends. Making a scis- 
Sgn with the fist and second finger means you m 



192 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

cutting some one in the back. Whittling one forefinger 
with the other means '^ yon got left." When courting 
on the balcony and the girl smooths her lip and cnm, you 
are warned to get out; ''the old man is coming." In 
company, when one is so unfortunate as to sneeze, they 
are greatly insulted, and the company is badly wanting 
in good manners unless, just as the sneeze is finished, 
every one ejaculates '' Jesu," '' Jesucristo." 



CHAPTER XXXIIL 

NOCHE TEISTE TREE. 

I PRESUME everybody who knows anything about his- 
tory remembers reading how Cortez, when he thought he 
was going to lose the fight for Mexico, on July 10th, 1520, 
retired under a tree and wept. 

Since that time the tree has been known to the inhab- 
itants as the Noche Triste (the sad night). It stands 
before an ancient chapel, in a public square of the little 
village of Popotla. I don't know why, for I could never 
think of Cortez except as a thieving murderer, but the 
Noche Triste receives a great deal of attention from the 
natives and all the tourists. On the second oi May, 
1872, the tree was found to be on fire. A citizen of 
Popotla, Senor Jose Maria Enriquez, who venerated the 
old relic, followed by hundreds of people, rushed to its 
rescue. 

They did what they could with buckets, and at last 
two hand pumps were brought from an adjoining college. 
It is said that fully five thousand people visited the burn- 
ing tree that day. After burning for twenty- four hours 
the flames were conquered. Since then Noche Triste has 
been inclosed by a high, iron fence; despite the fire it is 
yet a grand old tree. 

Everybody visits the cathedral of Mexico. It is a 
grand old building, of enormous size, and covered with 
carved figures, facing the zocalo. It is surrounded by 
well-kept gardens, in which are many beautiful statues 
and ancient Aztec figures. In the cathedral is the tomb 
of the Emperor Yturbide, and superb paintings, some by 
Murillo. The history of the cathedral is interesting; it 
was the church of Sant^aMaria de la Asuncion unti] 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO, 193 

January 31, 1545, wlien it was declared the metropolitan 
cathedral of Mexico. 

Philip II. issued a royal decree that the cathedral 
should correspond to the magnificence of the city, and in 
1573 the work was begun. It occupies the very ground 
on which stood the principal temple of the Aztecs; the 
site was bought from the Franciscan monks for forty dol- 
lars. 

A period of forty-two years was consumed in laying the 
foundations, raising the exterior walls, building the 
transverse walls of the chapels, working the columns to 
the height of the capitals, and making some progress 
upon the domes. 

The architecture of this temple pertains to the Doric 
order. The structure is one hundred and thirty-three 
Spanish yards in length, and seventy-four in width. In 
has one hundred and seventy-four windows, and^ is 
divided into five naves, the principal one of which 
measures fifty-three feet in width from column to column. 
The aisles correspond in number to the thirty-three 
chapels, formed by twenty pillars, ten on each side; 
from base to capital the pillars measure fifty-four feet in 
height, and fourteen in circumference. The roof is com- 
posed of fifty-one domes or vaults, resting upon seventy- 
four arches. The church is pyramidal in form, its 
height diminishing in regular proportion from the main 
narve to the chapels. There are three entrance-doors on 
the southern front, two on the northern, and two on each 
of the sides. 

After ninety-five years of^ continual work, the final 
solemn dedication was celebrated December 22, 1677. 

The cost of the cathedral, exclusive of the external 
decoration, at least of the Sagrario, amounted to $1,- 
752,000, so that it may well be said that two and a half 
million dollars were invested in the two churches, whose 
erection extended over more than a century. 

During my six months in Mexico I received hundreds 
of letters from men asking my advice about their com- 
ing to Mexico for business purposes. I never give ad- 
vice, but if I were a man and had a certain amount of 
patience I should go to- Mexico. If one can get used to 
the people and their mauana movements, the place is 
perfect. The land, in r-io^t localities, is the easiest im- 



194 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

aginable to cultivate. A farmer can have as many har- 
vests a year as he has space. He can sow in one place 
and harvest in another, so perfect is the climate. The 
only complaint is of the lack of water, but as it is always 
to be found six feet under the surface of the earth one 
can have it. Anything will grow if put in the ground. 
I visited one place that had been barren three years 
previous, and it was the most beautiful garden spot in 
Mexico. The trees were equal to any nine year old trees 
in tho States. There is no weather to interfere with 
their growth. 

A great number of Englishmen, Germans and French 
have settled ,in Mexico, and by their thrift are accumu- 
lating fortunes rapidly. Barring a little dislike, the 
Americans have the same chances. 

Mexico produces better broom-corn than the United 
States, and for the smallest possible cost and trouble. 
Very few farmers interest themselves in broom-corn, so 
there is a place for Americans to step in and make money. 

Silk culture could also be made one of Mexico's prin- 
cipal industries. It can be carried on with little or no 
capital. Any one who possesses a few mulberry trees 
can, without abandoning his regular work, care for silk- 
worms. An ounce of silk- worm eggs costs five dollars, 
and it will produce not less than fifty kilogrammes of 
cocoons that are worth one dollar per kilogramme. 

It is only necessary to buy eggs the first time, for the 
worms keep producing them. The mulberry tree thrives 
in all parts of Mexico, and the silk- worm needs no pro- 
tection of any kind from the climate, nor are they sub- 
jected to diseases here which elsewhere cause great loss. 
It costs less to raise silk-worms in Mexico than in Eu- 
rope, and a far better quality are produced. Mulberry 
shoots will produce sufficient foliage to maintain silk- 
A7orms within three years after planting. 

The eggs, while containing the embryo silk- worm, have 
a dull lavender color, but after discharging the worm 
they resembled little sugar pills. The worms were about 
one-sixteenth of an inch long, but the first week of moult- 
ing shows them to be half an inch long and the second 
week one inch. For the third moulting they are placed 
on perforated paper, through the holes of which the 
worms crawl. This relieves the attendant of consideri^" 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 195 

ble labor in transferring them. The fourth week the 
head is white, and the worm has attained its normal 
growth. There is nothing now for the worm to do but 
loaf around and lunch on mulberry leaves until the eighth 
or ninth day after shedding its skin the fourth time, 
when he or she, as the case may be, proceeds to form its 
cocoon. It is then of a golden transparent color. It 
takes about five days for the industrious worm to finish 
its cocoon. Then, to destroy the moth inside, it is sub- 
jected to heat, 'and the cocoon is then ready for spinning. 

When ready for use the cocoons are soaked in a tub of 
water until all the glutinous substance is removed. 
With a small whisk-broom the cocoon is brushed until 
ends, which are as fine as a cobweb, come loose. They 
will then reel off without breaking. One cocoon will 
give four hundred yards of raw silk. 

Indian rubber trees are also easily cultivated in Mex- 
ico, and the demand for them is large. It's easy to make 
a comfortable income in Mexico, if one goes about it 
rightly. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

LITTLE KOTES OF li^TEKEST. 

Superstition is the ruin of Mexico. While we were 
there some children found a shell containing an image of 
the Virgin. The matter was deemed miraculous, and 
they directly decided to build a chapel on the spot where 
the shell was found. 

In the State of Morelos exists a stone that they say was 
used before the conquest to call the people to labor or to 
war. The stone appears to be hewn. In the center of 
the upper part is a hole which runs into the heart of the 
stone, forming a spiral. On fitting to this a mouth- 
piece and blowing, the sound of a horn is produced, some- 
what melancholy in tone, but so loud that it can be heard 
a great distance; the ranchmen of that locality employ 
it as a means of calling their flocks and the animals 
quickly obey the summons. It is known as the *' Calling 
Stone." 

There is a tradition about this stone; they say that no 
difference where it is taken, that by some invisible means 
it always goes back to the spot it has occupied for the 



19G SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

past century. They say tliat once it was even chained in 
a cellar, but in the morning it was missing, and when 
they searched for it, it was found in its old position. 

Mexico abounds with the most beautiful and wonder- 
ful flowers. Many are unknown even to horticulturists. 
One of the novel flowers I heard of was one which grew 
on the San Jose hacienda, some twenty-two leagues from 
the City of Tehuantepec. In the morning it is white, 
at noon it is red, and at night it is blue. At noon it 
has a beautiful |)erfume, but at no other time. It grows 
on a tree. 

There are very few fires in Mexico, and it is a blessing 
to the citizens; they have one flre company, but no 
alarms. When there is a fire the policemen nearest give 
the customary alarm, three shots in the air from his re- 
volver; the next 2:)oliceman does the same, and on up un- 
til they come to the policeman near the firemen^s office. 
The fires are always out or the place reduced to ashes be- 
fore these noble laddies put in an appearance. 

On every corner is hung a sign, giving a list of all the 
business places on that block. 

The turkeys in Mexico are the most obliging things I 
ever saw; they are brought into town in droves and they 
never scatter, but walk quietly along, obeying the voice of 
their driver. If he wants a drink he makes them lie 
down and they stay until he returns. 

Mail is delivered every day in the week, Sunday not 
excepted. Every letter-box contains a slip which the 
carrier fixes, which tells when the next collection will be 
made. Printed slips are published daily, and hung in 
the corridors of the post-office, of unclaimed letters and 
papers, and of those that have not gone out for lack of 
postage. 

Houses are never labeled '^To Let ^' when they are 
empty; a piece of white paper is tied to the iron balcony 
and everybody knows what it means. No taxes are paid 
on empty houses or uncultivated land. People never 
rent houses by the year, but by the day or week; they 
can move at any time they wish; this makes landlords 
civil. 

Grass is cut in the park with a small piece of zinc, 
which is sharpened on a stone, and it is raked with a 
twig broom. 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. W1 

_Ko houses have bathrooms, but the city is well sup- 
plied with public swimming baths. One can have a room 
and private bath for twenty-five cents. Everybody of 
any note takes a bath every morning. It is quite a pretty 
and yet strange sight to see the beautiful voung girls 
coming leisurely up the prominent thoroughfares early 
in the morning, with their exquisite hair hanging in 
tangled masses, often to their feet. They are always at- 
tended by a maid. 

Mexican ladies have a contempt for people who do not 
have servants. They never carry anything on the streets; 
but always have a mozo, even to carry an umbrella. 

Because Vera Cruz has such a large death rate from 
yellow fever the Mexicans have named it La Cindad de 
los Muertos (the city of the dead.) 

In Yucatan the Maya language is still used. It is very 
musical and is written all in capitals. 

It is considered polite and quite a compliment for a 
man to stare at a lady on the streets. I might add that 
the men, by this rule, are remarkably polite. 

Families employ street musicians by the month, to visit 
them for a certain time daily. The hand-organs there 
are most musical instruments. 

Shoes are never marked with a number, but are fitted 
until they please the buyer. The shoes worn on the 
street are what would be the pride of an actress. They 
are very cheap. 

The easiest English word for the Mexican to learn is 
^^all right.'' Even the Indians catch it quickly. They 
all like to speak English. 

Butter is seldom seen in Mexico. The only way they 
have of getting it is by its forming from the rocking on 
tlie burro's back while being brought to town. It is 
skimmed off the milk by the hand and is sold at a big price. 
It is never salted. The butter is alwavs wrapped in corii 
husks, looking exactly like an ear of corn until it is 
opened. They also make cottage-cheese, and tying it up 
m green reeds sell it. Salt is very expensive. 

It costs a single man about one hundred and fifty dol- 
lars a month for his room rent and board. He must also 
retain the chamber-maid and the patero (door-keeper,) 
with certain amounts. Young men never carry night 
keys in Mexico, because they weigh about a pound. 



108 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

According to law every door must be locked at ten 
o'clock, and all those entering afterward must pay the 
patero for unlocking and unbarring the heavy portals. 

The poor, when dead, are carried to the graveyard on 
the heads of cargadores. If the coffin is only tied shut 
with a rope, it is borrowed for the occasion. The body 
is taken out at the cemetery and consigned, coffinless, to 
mother earth. 

The JViexicans began to call the Americans gri7igos 
during the war. They say the way the title originated 
was this: at that time an old ballad, *' Green grows the 
Enshes, 0!" was very popular, and all the American 
soldiers were singing it. The JMexicans could only catch 
^^ green grows"' and so they have ever since called the 
Americans /^gringos." 

Newspapers are published every day in the week ex- 
cept Monday. Sunday is always a feast day, and as no 
one will work then, the paper cannot be gotten out for 
Monday. 

Mexicans never suffer from catarrh; they say it is be- 
cause they will not wash the face while suffering from 
a cold. They say a green leaf pasted on the temple cures 
headaches. 

The women in Mexico are gaining more freedom grad- 
ually; they have them now as telegraph and telephone 
operators. Some Mexican bachelors use the telephone 
for an alarm clock, that is, they have the girls wake them 
by means of the telephone placed in their room. 

No bills are legal unless they are stamped. Every man 
has a j)eculiar mark which he scratches beneath his name. 
It is a sort of a trade mark, and makes his name legal. 

The Indian women have some means of coloring cotton 
so that it will never fade. 

There are public letter writers on the plazas, where one 
can have the correspondence attended to for a small 
sum. 

Letter-writing is an expensive thing in Mexico; to all 
points not exceeding sixteen leagues, they pay ten cents 
for a quarter of an ounce, or fifty cents an ounce. Postal 
cards are two cents; to send a letter to the United States 
only costs five cents. Every state in Mexico has its own 
stamps. 

Some haciendas are enormously large in Mexico. One 



ISTX MONTim IN MEXICO. \% 

man owns a farm through which the railroad /runs for 
thirty miles. It is said to comprise ten thousand square 
miles. 

The public schools in Mexico are similar to those in 
the States fifty years ago; the schools are never mixed; 
the boys attend one place and the girls another; the ad- 
vanced teachers are elected, and are given a house to hold 
the school in, and one hundred dollars a month for con- 
ducting it. For the others they get a house somewhere, 
and from thirty to sixty dollars; ten. years ago girls were 
not taught spelling or writing in public schools; they are 
now taught all the common branches and English, which 
has replaced French; sketching," music, fancy-work, and 
plain sewing; the hours are from 8 to 12.30, and from 2 
to 6; they are thoroughly taught the geography of their 
own country, but they absolutely learn nothing of other 
lands. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

A FEW RECIPES FOR MEXICAN DISHES. 

Probably some one would like to make a few of the 
dishes most common to the Mexican table. Of course 
you will think them horrible at first, but once you ac- 
quire the taste, American food is insipid in comparison. 

Recipe for tortillas:— Soften corn in alkaline water, 
then grind it fine, pat into round cakes, and bake on a 
thin, iron pan. Eat while hot. They are made very 
good by wrapping them around meat, or a seasoned pep- 
per. 

Alboudigas (meat balls):— Take equal parts of fresh 
pork and beef, say one pound, cut as for sausage, put in 
salt, pepper, a small piece of soaked bread, and one Qgg, 
well beaten; make into small balls, putting in each a 
piece of hard-boiled egg, an almond and a raisin. In a 
dish of hot lard put five or six crushed tomatoes, a little 
chopped onion, salt, pepper, and broth. Let boil a few 
moments, and then put in the balls. When the meat is 
cooked it is ready for the table. 

Rice with chicken or fresh pork: — Wash and dry the 
rice; have a dish of hot lard, put in the rice, fry a few 
moments, then add chopped tomatoes, onions, salt, pep- 
per, two or three thinly sliced potatoes, and a few pease; 



'<jOO six IIONTHS IN MEXICO. • 

cook a few moments, then pour into it the chicken or pork 
and some of the broth in which they have been boiled. 

Stuffed red peppers: — Open the pepper, take out the 
seeds and wash and dry carefully. Boil and then chop fine 
as much fresh pork as you will need to stuff your peppers. 
In a dish of hot lard put the meat with plenty of fine-cut 
tomatoes and onions, salt and pepper. Boil a few mo- 
ments, then add a little sugar, cloves, cinnamon, al- 
monds, and raisins cut in half, cook a little, then fill the 
peppers. If you have eight peppers beat three eggs, 
whites and yolks separately; when well beaten put to- 
gether, and in this roll the peppers, having first sprinkled 
over them a little flour. Have a dish of hot lard, to 
which has been added a little ground tomato, cinna- 
mon, salt, pepper, and a little water. Boil a few mo- 
ments, then put in the peppers, having first fried them 
in hot lard. Boil a few moments, and they are ready for 
use. The peppers can be filled with cheese if preferred, 
instead of meat. 

Green peppers with eggs and cheese:— Eoast the pep- 
pers over the coals, take off the thin skin, take out the 
seeds, wash and cut into thin strips. In a dish of hot 
lard put some tomatoes and onions, cut fine, and about 
two cups of water. When boiling, break in as many 
eggs as desired. When cooked, put in the peppers and 
slices of cheese. Eightly prepared, it is delicious. 

Cocoanut dulce: — Grate fine two cocoanuts. Put in a 
dish three pounds of sugar, let boil, take off the scum, 
then add the cocoanut, stirring all the time. After a 
little a bowl of cream, then later eighteen eggs, well 
beaten. Let cook, stirring constantly, until, when you 
pass the spoon through the middle of the mixture, you 
can see the bottom of the dish; then take off. Put in 
platters. Peel and cut almonds in half; put them in as 
thickly as you please. Pass over it a hot iron until nicely 
smoothed. 

Pineapple and sweet-potato dulce: — Grate pineapple, 
and boil sweet potatoes, half and half. For one pine- 
apple two pounds of sugar; let boil and skim. Put in 
and boil, stirring all the time, until you can see the bot- 
tom of the pan as the spoon passes through the center. 

Eice and almonds: — One ounce of grated almonds, one 
ounce of rice washed and ground; put in enough milk so 



BIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 201 

it will pass througli a cloth; put this in a quart of milk 
with three yokes of eggs and sugar to taste; boil nntii 
well done; flavor to taste. ^ 



CHAPTEE XXVI 

SOME MEXICAN LEGENDS. 

Theee is hardly a spot in Mexico that has not some 
romantic history connected with it; and the tales are al- 
ways so beautiful and full of thrilling romance. I would 
like to live in Mexico some time, and devote ail my at- 
tention to gathering these interesting stories^ I have 
given samples of them in the history of Don Juan 

Manuel. . , ^ t -^i i. 

The Street of the Jewel is also connected with a story 
full of love and its companion, despair. Here dwelled 
Gasper Villareal and his wife, Violante Armejo. Gasper 
was a man of moderate means, but he had enough to 
preserve his wife from labor. She was of wondrous 
beauty but quite strange, she only cared to hide herselt 
in her convent-like home. She loved her husband, and 
he was as iealous as a Mexican can be. , ■ , ,, 

One day a young noble, Diego de Fajardo, rode by the 
door, and, being thirstv, he asked the mozo for a drink. 
Violante sat in the corridor, looking upon the garden, 
and dreaming, doubtless, of her absent lord. True to 
the instincts of her race, she ordered the mozo to take 
the stranger a glass of wine. The servant did her bid- 
ding, explaining to the young cavalier the reason ot the 
change m his refreshments. Diego de Fajardo felt that 
it would be churlish to ride away without acknowledging 
the gracious hospitality. He tossed his bridle to the man 
and passed into the garden. 

Violante still sat in her hammock, garbed m spotless 
white, the perfection of beauty, grace and innocence 
The young calallero had not uttered his thanks until 
he had vowed to win Gasper Villareal's lovely wife. 

Dav after day he watched the casa, waiting for an op- 
portunity to find the wife alone. At last fate favored 
him It was near nightfall when he saw the husband 
come forth, and, taking saddle, ride toward the city. In 
a moment, eager and confident, he fell on his knees be- 
fore Violante and confessed his love. 



203 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

She did not fall into his arms, but she spni'ned him and 
with such anger that he saw his conduct in its true light, 
and, repentant he arose from his knees and left her. 
Violante started to her chamber to seek her rosary and to 
cool her throbbing brow with the touch of holy water, 
when her foot struck a sparkling object; it was a bracelet, 
with her name, " Violante,^" in diamonds, close beside 
the coronet and arms of De Fajardo. 

As she stood her husband entered. Having to return 
for something, he had been struck with horror to see a 
man rush from his gateway. There stood his wife with 
the jewel in her hand, the evidence of her guilt. With- 
out a word he sunk his dagger in her breast. As she 
sank lifeless to the floor, he snatched the gleaming brace- 
let from her stiffening fingers and left the house. 

Diego de Fajardo was wakened in the morning by his 
mozo. Something had happened and he was wanted to 
go out in the street to see if he could understand it. 
Tremblingly he obeyed. On the pavement. Gasper Vil- 
lareal lay rigid, his garments soaked with his life's blood, 
l^ear the bronze knocker of the massive door was a 
splendid diamond bracelet, suspended on a blood-stained 
dagger. 

In 1550 the lake of Texcoco overflowed, and almost 
submerged the City of Mexico. Among the objects 
found drifting upon the water was a large canvas, on 
which appeared a beautiful representation of the Virgin. 
None could determine where it came from, so a chapel 
Avas built for it. It is called ** Our Lady of the Angels." 
For centuries it has received the veneration of man. 

Another inundation occurred in 1607, and all the 
chapel, except the side holding the Virgin's picture, was 
washed away. Despite all the storms the picture was 
said to be as bright as if just from the painter's brush. 
A new chapel was built around this marvelous painting, 
which stood until 1627, when another flood took it all 
away excepting the one wall holding the Virgin's like- 
ness. There, neglected and unprotected, it stood as the 
storms had left it until 1745, when a succession of pub- 
lic calamities drove the people to implore the succor of 
tlie Virgin. A building was again erected around the 
uninjured painting. Thus, until the present day, the 



^1:K 3I0NTHS IN MEXICO. S03 

people in need seek the painting to pour forth their 
prayers at its feet. 

El Desierto and its old Carmelite convent occupy the 
most charming spot in Mexico. It is only fifteen miles 
from the capital, and the way is along the most romantic 
and picturesque road a Southern clime can produce. The 
forest that surrounds El Desierto is composed of the 
largest trees in the valley, hardly excepting those of 
Ohapultepec. The convent was a group of massive build- 
ings, domes and turrets, now crumbling into decay. In 
1625 the monks retreated to this wilderness to mortify 
tlie flesh, and strange stories of their serio-jovial life, 
their sparkling wines and romance of their hermit-like 
existence come creeping down through centuries; the 
jolly monks are no more, and the winds sigh through the 
mighty forest that has ridden romance, love and tragedy 
from the world. 

The conqueror, Cortez, not satisfied with robbing the 
grand old Aztec king, Montezuma, of his land and lifcj 
also robbed him of his daughter. The poor woman, af- 
ter he deserted her, died in a convent, leaving a daugh- 
ter, the child of Cortez. This daughter of Cortez', and 
granddaughter of Montezuma, was married very young 
to a Spanish captain, Quinteros. There are now in 
Puebla descendants of that illegal love. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

PEINCESS JOSEFA DE TTUEBIDE. 

I ciiiriTOT close this little book without speaking of 
one of the most remarkable and brilliant women in 
Mexico, the only daughter of the emperor. After the 
execution of the emperor the family came to the States, 
and settled in Philadelphia. Josefa was sent to George- 
town to receive an English education, and she yet retains 
a love for America and its people. When Maximilian 
entered Mexico he restored the, titles to the Yturbide fam- 
ily, and invited the cultured princess to become a mem- 
ber of his imperial household. Subsequently Emperor 
Maximilian adopted Augustin Yturbide, grandson of the 
late emperor, and appointed the Princess Josefa guardian 
of the "prince imperial. '^ Maximilian soon recognized 



204 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 

the wonderful executive abilities of tlie princess, and lie 
consulted her on momentous occasions. Had he taken 
her advice, I doubt not but that Mexico would have had 
an empire to-day. 

After the fall of Maximilian, Mrs. Yturbide (formerly 
Alice Green, of Washington, D. C.) claimed and recov- 
ered her son, who had been temporarily " heir presump- 
tive" to the throne of Mexico. The Princess Josef a 
went to the court of Austria. Nine years ago she re- 
turned to Mexico, where she lives in seclusion. 

She is one of the loveliest Avomen, in every respect, I 
ever met. Her rooms at the Hotel Humboldt are plain, 
but contain many little mementos of former glory. 
The pictures and busts of the unfortunate emperor and 
empress occupy prominent positions. 

" Carlotta was only twenty-three years old when she 
came to Mexico,^' said the princess. '' She was a beauti- 
ful girl, with a creamy complexion, dark eyes and hair. 
She worshiped her young husband, as he did her, and 
she was ambitious for his sake. What a sad fate was 
theirs!" 

The princess then showed me five letters she had re- 
ceived from Carlotta, written in English, after the em- 
perors death; they gave no evidence of her insanity. 

The princess has never received any recompense for 
the land which the government took from her father, and 
even a pension due her, which now amounts to some hun- 
di^ed thousands, has never been paid. She receives many 
promises from Diaz but never the money. 

The worst things the Mexicans ever did for themselves 
was to shoot Maximilian. They have never had one 
quarter so good government since. They had sworn good 
faith to the emperor and said if he sent part of the 
French army back they would support him. He believed 
them, and when he found that they were dishonest he 
applied to Napoleon for aid. When he received no an- 
swer, the empress, eager to save her noble husband, 
started to beg Napoleon personally for help, much against 
the wish of Maximilian. 

The republican powers getting too strong for the em- 
peror, some advised him to seek refuge until things grew 
calmer. The refuge he sought was the prison they had 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



205 



prepared for him. He walked into it, and he never 
came forth until the day he was shot. His bosom friend, 
Lopez, whom the emperor had enriched, had made a 
general, and intrusted him with all his secrets, betrayed 
him to his enemies. On June, 19, 1867, Maximilian and 
his brave comrades, Miramon and Mejia, were led forth 
to a little hill near Queretaro and shot, Maximilian^s 
last words were: *^' Poor Carlotta.-'' Three little black 
crosses now mark the spot where those noble men died. 



[the end.] 




WHAT IS SAPOLIO? 



It is a solid, 
handsome cake 
of scouring soap, 
_ _ ^ which has no 
qual for all cleaniing purposes except the laundry. To use it is to value it. 
What will Sapolio do? Why, it will clean paint, make oil-cloths bright, and 
give the floors, tables, and shelves a new appearance. 

It will take the grease off the dishes and off the pots and pans. 
You can scour the knives and forks with it, and make the tin things shine 
brightly. The wash-basin, the bath-tub, even the greasy kitchen sink, will be as 
clean as a new pin if you use SAPOLIO. One cake will prove all we say- 
Be a clever Mttle housekeeper and try it. 

BEWARE OF IMITATIONS. 

ABANDON PHYSIC! 







i 
I 

Dr. a. W. Thompson, Northampton, Mass., says: " I have tested the Gluten 
Suppositories, and consider them valuable, as indeed I expected from the excel* 
lence of their theory." 

Dr. Wm. Todd Helmuth declares the Gluten Suppositories to be " the best 
remedy for constipation wiiich I have ever prescribed." 

As Sancho Panza said of sleep, so say I of your Gluten Suppositories: " God 
bless the man who invented them!"— E. L. Ripley, Burlington, Vt. 

"T prescribe the Gluten Suppositories almost daily in my practice, and am 
often astonished at the permanent results obtained."— J. Montfort Schley, 
M. D., Professor Physical Diagnosis Woman's Medical College, New York City, 

HEALTH FOOD CO., 76 Uh Avenue, N. Y. 

Neuralgine, the Great Pain Cure. 

One application of NEURALorNE removes in many cases the most excruciO' 
ting pain— the worst cases rarely needing more than two or three. 
SUFFERERS should at once send for this invaluable R E M E D Y- 

Price 50 cts. per Bottle. 

For sale by all Druggists, o» will be sent by mail to Any address, postfifip 

26 Vandewater Street, New Tori. 




The treatment of many thousands of 
cases of those chronic weaknesses and 
distressing ailments peculiar to females, 
at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical In- 
stitute, Buffalo, N. Y., has afforded a 
vast experience in nicely adapting and 
thoroughly testing remedies for the 
cure of woman's peculiar maladies. 

I»r. Pierce's Favorite Prescrip- 
tion is the outgrowth, or result^ of this 
great and valuable experience. Thou- 
Btmds of testimonials received from pa- 
tients and from physicians who have 
tested it In the more aggravated and 
obstinate cases which had baffled their 
•kill, prove It to be the most wonderful 
remedy ever devised for the relief and 
cure of suffering women. It is not re- 
conunended as a "cure-all," but as a 
most perfect Specific for woman's 
peculiar ailments. 

As a powerful, invigorating 
tonic it imparts strength to the whole 
eystem, and to the uterus, or womb and 
its appendages, in particmar. For over- 
worked, "worn-out," "run-down," do- 
blhtated teachers, milliners, dressmak- 
ers, seamstresses, "shop-girls," house- 
keepers, nursing mothers, and feeble 
women generally. Dr. Pierce's Favorite 
Prescription is the greatest earthly boon, 
bemg unequalled as an appetizing cor- 
aial and restorative tonic. It promotes 
digestion and assimilation of food, cures 
naxisea, weakness of stomach, indiges- 
tion, bloating and eructations of gas. 

Asasoptians and strensilien- 
Ing nervine, " Favorite Prescnption " 
is unequalled and is invaluable in allay- 
ing and subduing nervous excitability, 
irritability, exhaustion, prostration, hys- 
teria, spasms and other distressing, nerv- 
ous symptoms commonly attendant upon 
functional and organic disease of the 
womb. It induces refreshing sleep and 
rehevee mental anxiety and despond- 
ency. 

Br. Pierce's Favorite Prescrip. 
*^^^ ^^ * legitimate medicine, 
carefully compounded by an experienc- 
ed and skillful physician, and adapted 
to woman's delicate organization. It is 
purely vegetable ja its composition and 



perfectly haa-mleas in its effects In any 
condition of the system. 

"Favorite Prescription" is a 
positive cure for the most compU- 
cated and obstinate cases of leucorrhea, 
or " whites," excessive flowing at month- 
ly periods, painful menstruation, unnat- 
ural suppressions, prolapsus or falling 
of the womb, weak back, " female weak- 
ness," anteversion, retroversion, bearing- 
down sensations, chronic congestion, in- 
flammation and ulceration of the womb, 
inflammation, pain and tenderness in 
ovaries, accompanied with internal heat. 
In pregnancy, " Favorite Prescrip- 
tion" 18 a "mother's cordial," relievinir 
nausea, weakness of stomach and othw 
distressing symptoms common to that 
condition. If its use is kept up in the 
latter months of gestation, it so prepares 
the system for delivery as to greatly 
lessen, and many times almost entirely 
do away with the sufferings of that try- 
mg ordeal. ' 

"Favorite Prescription,'' when 
taken m connection with the use of 
Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery, 
and small laxative doses of Dr. Pierce's 
Purgative Pellets (Little Liver Pills), 
cures Liver, Kidney and Bladder dis- 
eases. Their combined use also removes 
blood taints, and abolishes cancerous 
and scrofulous humors from the system. 
Treating the \rrong Dis^se.- 
Many times women call on their family 
physicians, suffering, as they imagine, 
one from dyspepsia, another from heart 
disease, another from liver or kidney 
disease, another from nervous exhaus- 
tion or prostration, another with pain 
here or there, and in this way they all 
present alike to themselves and their 
easy-going and indifferent, or over-busy 
doctor, separate and distinct diseases; 
for which he prescribes his piUs and 
potions, assummg them to be such, 
when, in reality, they are all only symth' 
toms caused by some womb disorder. 
The physician, ignorant of the cause of 
suffering, encourages his practice imtil 
large bills are made. The suffering pa- 
tient gets no better, but probably worse 
by reason of the delay, wrong treatment 
and consequent complications. A prop- 
er medicine, like Dr. Pierce's Favorite 
Prescription, directed to the cause would 
have entirely removed the disease, there- 
by dispelling all those distressing symp- 
toms, and instituting comfort instead of 
prolonged misery. 

"Favorite Prescription" Is the 
only medicine for women sold, by drug- 
gists, under a positive guarantee. 
from the manufacturers, that it will 
give satisfaction in every case, or money 
will be refunded. This guarantee has 
been printed on the bottle-wrapper, and 
faithfully carried out for many yearSo 
Eiarge bottles (100 doses) $1.00, or 
six bottles for $5.00. 

j^" Send ten cents in stamps for Dr. 

Pierce's large, illustrated Treatise (ISO 

pages) on Diseases of Women. Address, 

3^0xld's Dispensary Medical Assoclatioiii 

HO, ess Main sxbbet, Buffalo, jv, j^ 



s ^^JjT 




^ 



